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Local Counselors Get $30 Million to Help Seniors
Enroll in Medicare Drug Program
CMS gives extra funds for SHIPs as May 15
enrollment deadline nears
April 5, 2006 - Today the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that State Health Insurance Assistance
Programs (SHIPs) will receive $30 million to help people with Medicare
make decisions on the drug program. This additional funding extends
local help until May 15, when the enrollment period for 2006 ends, and
during the next annual enrollment period beginning in November for drug
coverage that will begin in January 2007.
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As the May 15th deadline for enrollment in
Medicare drug coverage approaches, we are seeing more and more people
who have not enrolled looking into what the coverage means for them,
said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D.
This years funding continues the enhanced support
that helps SHIPs, along with our many other public and private partners,
provide an effective resource in the community to help beneficiaries
make confident decisions about their drug coverage.
"The thousands of SHIP volunteers around the
country are helping many of our beneficiaries take advantage of the drug
coverage and all of the other benefits and protections of the Medicare
program.
SHIPs are one of the key partners in Medicares
education and outreach efforts, which have contributed to over 27
million Americans receiving drug coverage in plans that offer
prescription drug coverage that best suits their needs. SHIP volunteers
have assisted Medicare beneficiaries by offering personalized
face-to-face counseling concerning the drug benefit and advice on how to
significantly lower their prescription drug costs.
Over the past year, each SHIP has demonstrated
unique methods and strategies to reach beneficiaries and their families
where they live about new prescription drug coverage. Across the nation,
SHIPs have hosted and participated in nearly 36,000 events in the last
twelve months, more than double the previous year's 14,500 events.
More than 4.2 million beneficiaries have received
information and assistance from SHIP staff and volunteers about Medicare
drug coverage. SHIPs, as they have been doing for years, continue to
provide information and assistance about other traditional Medicare
benefits. These vigorous efforts have contributed to over 27 million
Medicare beneficiaries having prescription drug coverage.
This years grant awards reaffirm our confidence
in the partnership we have with all of the SHIPs and our commitment to
support them at unprecedented levels, said Dr. McClellan. It is also
clear evidence of our strong belief and commitment to a more
personalized Medicare program that reaches our beneficiaries locally and
proactively.
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Find Your SHIP |
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Every state has a "State Health Insurance Assistance
Program" (SHIP) like HIICAP. These programs help Medicare
beneficiaries and their families with their health insurance
choices and with problems that might arise. Go to this link
to find the SHIP in your state -
Click Here |
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With the 2006 funding award, SHIPs are expected to
continue to achieve high levels of measurable accomplishments in their
efforts to support beneficiaries in their local communities. CMS will
continue to provide additional training to ensure that the network is
fully capable of accessing and using all of CMS online and other
support tools.
Because the general enrollment for the new
Medicare drug coverage ends May 15th of this year, education and
awareness counseling is important right now, said Dr. McClellan. We
truly appreciate the work of the SHIPs to further increase awareness
through the coming weeks so people with Medicare can make informed, time
critical decisions about their health care and prescription drug
coverage needs.
SHIP Grants are calculated in two parts: The
initial grant is distributed as a fixed award of $75,000 ($25,000 to
Guam and the Virgin Islands) to each of the applicants. The second
portion is a variable sum based on the percentage of nationwide Medicare
beneficiaries who live in the state, the proportion of the state's
Medicare beneficiaries to the total state population, and the proportion
of the state's Medicare beneficiary population that live in rural areas.
CMS has more than doubled funding to SHIPs since
2003, recognizing the importance of SHIP assistance to beneficiaries.
In 2004, CMS provided more than $21 million and increased that to more
than $31 million in 2005. The funding level will remain high, even
after the initial enrollment period for prescription drug coverage ends,
to ensure that SHIP counselors will continue to play an important role
in educating beneficiaries about the drug benefit and their plan options
in the months ahead.
In conjunction with the efforts of SHIPs in
providing personalized counseling, this year CMS also expanded and
enhanced the 1-800-MEDICARE helpline. In addition, CMS Regional Offices
continue to work extensively with thousands of community-based
organizations and coalitions to provide information and enrollment
assistance support to many beneficiaries.
Through joint efforts of CMS and the Administration
on Aging (AoA), the Aging Network has also enlisted the active support
of 10,000 aging services community provider organizations in beneficiary
education and enrollment activities.
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