Perspective
Medicare Web Site Now Offers Information on Drug Programs and Doctors
Do you have trouble finding useful Medicare information about prescription drug programs or doctors who see Medicare patients in your area? There's lots of good information on the Internet. Visit Medicare's two new additions to its Web site at www.medicare.gov: the Prescription Drug Assistance Program Compare and the Participating Physicians Directory. If you don't have Internet access at home, visit your local library.
The site called Prescription Drug Assistance Program Compare is a valuable resource if you have Medicare and want extra help in paying for prescription drugs. The site teaches you how to apply for drug cost assistance from pharmaceutical companies, states, community-based programs, and disease-specific programs. You can also search by ZIP code for drug coverage benefits in your area.
The Participating Physicians Directory will help you locate Medicare doctors who accept Medicare's rate as payment in full by specialty and location. The directory lists each doctor's name, address, and specialty.
In addition to these two new sections, Medicare also added a Spanish version of Medicare HMO benefits, costs, quality, member satisfaction, and disenrollment rates to its Web site. The Nursing Home Compare site was also expanded to include data from the last three surveys on each of the 16,500 nursing homes nationwide that participate in Medicare. The Nursing Home Compare site now contains more comprehensive information on the number and type of residents, staffing levels, and ratings of each facility in comparison to state and national averages.
These changes to Medicare's Web site will certainly help you find good, trustworthy information about your Medicare options and resources. Visit your local library if you don't have Internet access at home and go to www.medicare.gov. You can also visit www.medicarerights.org, the Medicare Rights Center's Web site, to find helpful Medicare information.
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