to friends from your friendly pharmacist:
You might want to get a Sunday paper with the Parade
magzine included tomorrow. It is the start of info
release on the new Medicare drug plans. The important
family discussion part of press release on Medicare
drug coverage follows. Sign up starts in Nov 05, with
actual start of coverage 1 Jan 06. Most of the press
release is deleted, if anyone wants the full text,
reply to me off the list and I'll forward or there are
links at the bottom.
Pam Rice, RPh
[I bcc's friends/family not on lists]
--- California Pharmacists Association
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> From: "California Pharmacists Association"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Pamela Rice" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: CMS Issues Approval to Drug Plans Under $20
> Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 10:33:44 -0500
> The following news release comes from CMS:
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> Contact: CMS Media Affairs
> Friday, Sept. 23, 2005
> (202) 690-6145
>
>
>
> MEDICARE TAKES MAJOR STEP TOWARD 2006 DRUG BENEFIT
>
> Issues Approval To Plans Offering Coverage
> Prescription Drug Plans Under
> $20 In 49 States Medicare Advantage Options Also
> Increase
>
> The prescription drug plans, which work with
> traditional Medicare, and
> the Medicare Advantage plans that offer drug
> coverage and additional
> benefits, can begin marketing their plans on Oct. 1.
> More details on
> those plans will come in the next few weeks.
>
deleted info
>
> Everyone who cares about someone in Medicare can
> also help, Secretary
> Leavitt and Dr. McClellan emphasized. A guide on how
> to talk about the
> prescription drug coverage will be included in the
> Sept. 25 edition of
> Parade magazine, including a call for families to
> discuss the new
> prescription drug benefit as they gather the day
> after Thanksgiving.
>
> Any time is a good time to talk about Medicares drug
> coverage, but we'd
> like to create a national conversation at a time
> when a lot of people
> gather with family and friends and just catch up on
> their lives,
> Secretary Leavitt said.
>
> Take a few minutes to talk about Medicares drug
> coverage -- it could
> change the life of someone you love, Dr. McClellan
> said. We will use the
> detailed information on drug plans that will be
> available in the weeks
> ahead to help every Medicare beneficiary choose a
> plan that is a good
> fit.
>
> More information to help guide these conversations
> will be published in
> the coming weeks. In early October, the Medicare &
> You 2006 handbook
> will be mailed to every Medicare household.
> Beneficiaries with coverage
> now, for example from a former employer, should also
> get information by
> October on how that coverage will work with
> Medicares new benefits.
> Beginning in mid-October, Medicares Web site,
> www.medicare.gov, and its
> 24-hour toll-free number, 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800
> 633-4227), will also
> have specific information available to help
> beneficiaries find the drug
> coverage that suits their needs.
>
> To get a plant that works for them, beneficiaries
> should make a note of
> any current drug coverage, their prescription drugs
> and their
> preferences about pharmacies or additional coverage.
>
>
> A map of the prescription drug plan and Medicare
> Advantage plan regions
> can be found at
> http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicarereform/mmaregions/.
>
> ###
>
> Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other
> press materials are
> available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
>
> Note:
>
> For more information, including specific plans for
> each state please
> visit the following link:
>
> http://www.cms.hhs.gov/map/map.asp
>
>
>
>
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