Independent Resources From Consumer Group Provide Answers To Questions About The Medicare Drug Benefit, USA

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 07 Nov 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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The Medicare Rights Center is making its interactive online tools available to help older adults and people with disabilities, their families and caregivers, and professionals make decisions about the new Medicare drug benefit, including how to select a plan that best meets one's needs and how to apply for "Extra Help" to pay for it. The national consumer service organization also operates a toll-free hotline and provides legal services to help people appeal Medicare private drug plan decisions.

People with Medicare have the right to switch Medicare private drug plans, or enroll in a Medicare private drug plan for the first time, from November 15th - December 31st.

"With a confusing Medicare drug benefit available through dozens of for profit private plans, we are making the independent and consumer-friendly online tools that our counselors use available to everyone who needs them," says Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a not-for-profit, national consumer service organization.

"We are helping older and disabled Americans make the best drug plan choice possible, especially since most people will be locked into their plan for the entire year and they are unreliable and costly."

Medicare Rights Center's web-based tools are both a click away on one site:
http://www.medicarerights.org/help.html

-- MI Drug Plan Compare:

This new consumer-friendly web-based tool makes it easy to search for plans that cover your drugs and work at your neighborhood pharmacies. Prioritize your results based on what matters most to you: lower annual costs or fewer medication restrictions? By answering a few, straight-forward questions, you get a list of the top three plans that meet your needs around cost and coverage. (2007 Medicare Private Drug Plan information will be posted by November 15, 2006.)

-- Medicare Interactive Counselor (MI):

Get answers to all your Medicare questions using, including how to pick the right Medicare plan for you. Step-by-step guidance identifies the critical questions you need to ask any plan you are considering joining, while an explanation of medication limitations shines the light on why some low-cost plans could actually cost you more in the end. "MI Counselor" uses clear, simple language to provide accurate, timely information on all aspects of Medicare-from the new Medicare prescription drug benefit to coordinating benefits, long-term care, and low-income assistance. "MI Counselor" is the most comprehensive source on the internet for state-specific health care information and resources.

Medicare Rights Center's Drug Plan Appeals Hotline offers free assistance and is just a phone call away:

-- Medicare Drug Plan Appeals Hotline: 1-888-466-9050

People enrolled in a Medicare private drug plan who have been denied prescription drugs can contact the Medicare Rights Center for help appealing the decision. Whether your medication is not on your plan's formulary and you need to file an "exception," or has restrictions like "prior authorization," "quantity limits" and "step therapy," that prevent you from getting it, counselors and attorneys can help you through the appeals process. There is no charge for this service.

The Medicare Rights Center's MI Drug Plan Compare was developed by Experion Systems Inc. in partnership with the Medicare Rights Center.

Medicare Rights Center (MRC) is the largest independent source of Medicare information and assistance in the United States. Founded in 1989, MRC helps older adults and people with disabilities get high-quality, affordable health care.

1460 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
http://www.medicarerights.org