Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deane Beebe
Communications Director
212-204-6219
Medicare Rights CenterAugust 12, 2005
National Health Care Groups Augment Websites with New Medicare Counseling Tool New York, NY – Several national patient associations including the American Diabetes Association, American Parkinson's Disease Association, and National Family Caregivers Association have expanded their websites to include Medicare Interactive. The new web-based tool is a one-stop, interactive site designed to provide older adults and people with disabilities, their caregivers, and professionals user-friendly consumer information about Medicare benefits, rights and options at no charge.
"Navigating the Medicare maze has never been easy and the new Medicare drug benefit will confound people even more," said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a national consumer service group. "Many people with Medicare have trouble getting the health care they need because clear, meaningful answers to health care questions are hard to find. Too often they end up forgoing care or paying thousands of dollars for services they could have secured at low or no cost."
Medicare Interactive weaves together national and state-specific information on health care and options - from the basics of the various Medicare plan options to the details of getting Medicare-covered home health care. Medicare Interactive guides people with all levels of health care expertise to clear answers on Medicare, state-specific coverage, case examples, frequently asked questions, and links to related sites. Medicare Interactive is updated daily to keep up with changes in Medicare, including the new drug benefit, as well as other state-specific health care resources.
Previously available only to private organizations, Medicare Interactive is now available to consumers who log onto the websites of patient associations that have partnered with the Medicare Rights Center. To date these groups include the ALS Association, American Diabetes Association, American Parkinson's Disease Association, American Hospital Association, Caregiver Support Services, Council on Social Work Education, National Alliance for Caregiving, National Bone Marrow Transplant Link, National Family Caregivers Association and National Health Council.
"Understanding what health care services Medicare covers is of major concern to our members," said Ms. Jennifer Brand, MPH, director of chapter patient services with The ALS Association. "Now, thanks to Medicare Interactive, consumer-friendly Medicare answers are just a click away from our website. A great advantage of this new counseling tool is that after learning about Medicare, our members can easily return back to our association's site because Medicare Interactive resides within it."
Medicare Interactive is now available on patient association websites that have partnered with the Medicare Rights Center with support from the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation.