Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deane Beebe
Communications Director
212-204-6219
Medicare Rights CenterJuly 29, 2005
Drug Coverage 101: Everything You Need to Know About the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit -- In-Depth Professional Guide Complements Website’s Consumer Information -- New York, NY – The Medicare Rights Center (MRC) has released a 29-page guide for professionals who assist older and disabled Americans with Medicare looking to better understand the new Medicare drug benefit to begin January 1, 2006.
The guide contains 101 questions – in eight different sections - regarding the new drug benefit. The guide is an effort to educate professionals who say the benefit is too complex and confusing and are trying to help people eligible for the benefit to enroll.
The new professional guide "Medicare Drug Coverage 101: Everything You Need to Know About the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit" is the most recent addition to the Medicare Rights Center's website which has an array of materials to help consumers understand the new benefit and how to apply for the extra help to pay for it.
“Both consumers and professionals are desperate for good information that will help them make sense of the new drug benefit,” said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a national consumer group. “The Medicare Rights Center’s website is an excellent resource for anyone who is seeking consumer-friendly answers about the benefit from a source that has no political or profit-making agenda.”
People with the new Medicare drug benefit will initially pay a $250 deductible. Then, between $250 and $2,250, people with the benefit will be responsible for 25 percent of drug costs. From $2,251 until $5,100, a person will get no help. The coverage kicks back in when $5,100 of covered drugs have been purchased, which is $3,600 in out-of-pocket costs. Medicare will then begin to pick up all but five percent of the costs. There will also be about a $37 monthly premium that does not count toward out-of-pocket spending.
There is partial or full help to pay the monthly drug benefit premiums as well as other costs such as the gap in coverage, if a person meets certain income criteria and asset levels. This information and much more is also in the guide.
Information on the new Medicare drug benefit can be found on the homepage of the Medicare Rights Center’s website at www.medicarerights.org, where more information will be posted when details about the drug plans become available this fall.
The 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 good affordable health care. For more information, visit www.medicarerights.org.