New and Updated Information About Medicare Benefits Included in Medicare & You 2001

Medicare's largest annual mailing to beneficiaries will take place this September and October when more than 34 million copies of the Medicare & You2001 handbook are mailed to Medicare beneficiaries all across the United States. The mailing is one part of Medicare's comprehensive effort to help them understand their health care options, whether through original Medicare or Medicare+Choice plans.

The Medicare & You 2001 handbook provides the most up-to-date, comprehensive Medicare information available from the Health Care Financing Administration(HCFA), the federal agency that administers Medicare. The handbook is one of the primary tools used by HCFA to inform seniors and people with disabilities about their Medicare benefits, rights and responsibilities. This year, more than 300,000 handbooks are being mailed to physicians who treat seniors and people with disabilities who are covered by Medicare.

"As we celebrate Medicare's 35th anniversary, an important part of our mission is to continue to provide accurate and easy to use information about Medicare," said Nancy-Ann DeParle, HCFA administrator. "This is an important part of our effort to make sure that seniors and Americans with disabilities and their families have the information they need, when they need it, to make informed health care decisions."

The 2001 Handbook includes:

"This information should help people with Medicare evaluate the quality of care and value that both Medicare+Choice plans and original Medicare provides," said Dr. Robert A. Berenson, director of HCFA's Center for Health Plans and Providers. "Along with the 1-800-MEDICARE toll-free line and www.medicare.gov, beneficiaries now have even more information at their fingertips to help them make the right choices about their health care."

"The handbook has become the centerpiece of HCFA's information campaign -Medicare & You - to help seniors and Americans with disabilities make the best choices possible about their health care coverage," said Michael McMullan, acting director of HCFA's Center for Beneficiary Services. "This year, the handbook has been updated to be more user-friendly based upon the suggestions of people with Medicare."

The 2001 handbook continues to contain performance and customer satisfaction information about original Medicare and Medicare+Choice plans, including the percentage of women who received screening mammograms, and the overall rating of care that patients received in their managed care plan.

"In addition to making more information available to beneficiaries and their family members, Medicare now covers more preventive benefits, such as annual screening mammograms, colon cancer and prostate cancer screening and diabetes self-management training," said DeParle. "Beneficiaries can find out more about these preventive benefits by taking advantage of the handbook, website and toll-free information line. As the Medicare population grows, these resources help us get straightforward, helpful information to beneficiaries and their families and caregivers."

Medicare beneficiaries can learn more about Medicare on the Internet at www.medicare.gov, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. Callers with access to a teletypewriter (TTY) or telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) can call 1-877-486-2048. Medicare information is also available at meetings and health fairs around the nation with State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs), state departments on aging and insurance and other organizations that work with Medicare beneficiaries.

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 created the "Medicare & You" campaign, as well as the Medicare+Choice program, to help modernize Medicare and included a wider range of health plan options, similar to those available to other Americans. Original fee-for-service Medicare, currently chosen by more than33 million individuals, is available nationwide to all beneficiaries. Today, more than 39 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare. That number is projected to nearly double to 77 million by 2030.