Family physicians can now get a helping hand educating their patients about the upcoming Medicare Part D benefit. That hand comes in the form of the Medicare Rx Education Network, which AAFP, CMS and more than three dozen other organizations recently formed to provide a consistent message about the new prescription drug plan.
AAFP Helps Unveil Medicare Part D Education Campaign
"We are thrilled about this effort," said AAFP President-Elect Larry Fields, M.D., during a July 19 news conference launching a national campaign to raise awareness of the Medicare Part D benefit. AAFP is part of the Medicare Rx Education Network, which developed the campaign.
"This is an exciting program," said AAFP President-Elect Larry Fields, M.D., of Ashland, Ky., during a July 19 news conference announcing the education effort. "Not only are we dedicated to making this work, but we're also dedicated to making it work seamlessly for our members, for my mom, for your moms and dads and grandparents, and for all the people who benefit from this program. They are the ones who are most important to all of us."
During the news conference, the organizations involved in the network unveiled a 30-second television advertisement. Designed to raise Medicare patients' awareness of the Nov. 15 enrollment deadline and the Jan. 1, 2006, launch of the Medicare Part D benefit included as a provision of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Modernization and Improvement Act, the advertisement will run through August.
During the news conference, the organizations involved in the network unveiled a 30-second television advertisement. Designed to raise Medicare patients' awareness of the Nov. 15 enrollment deadline and the Jan. 1, 2006, launch of the Medicare Part D benefit included as a provision of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Modernization and Improvement Act, the advertisement will run through August.
View a video clip of the ad.
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The advertisement urges viewers to call a toll-free number to obtain details about Part D benefits and the enrollment process.
In addition, AAFP's familydoctor.org plans to soon begin offering information about Medicare Part D. The newly launched CMS-sponsored Medicare Rx Education Network site provides educational materials with links to a page that allows patients to order a free brochure or go to additional Web pages for more resources.
"My mom and your dad and all the beneficiaries of this program need to have a clear, consistent message in order to make an informed decision," said Fields during the news conference. "This is the educational program for this benefit."
Fields joined CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, former U.S. Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana and several other health care community leaders during the news conference, which was conducted at the National Press Club.
Breaux recognized the need for a coordinated educational campaign when his father called him during the congressional debate on Medicare Part D. The plan would not work, his father had told him, because it was too confusing and benefit explanations conflicted with one another.
"I decided that, if my own father had that opinion at that time, we had to do something to make sure that the product was properly communicated to the 45 million beneficiaries it was designed to help," said Breaux.
Developed to address as many personal situations as possible, the Part D prescription benefit requires some scrutiny before enrolling, according to CMS's McClellan.
"It works in different ways for different individuals" depending on their financial circumstances, said McClellan. For example, the plan will coordinate with retirement coverage and Medicaid. "It means something different to different individuals, so the effort to let people know the facts is very important."
The Medicare Rx Education Network's effort is to ensure that "seniors and people with disability can make an informed, competent decision about the new medicare drug coverage," McClellan continued. "It's voluntary coverage, and most people need to make a decision about it in order to take advantage of it. We want to make sure that those decisions are based on the facts."
