Mini-Poster To Help Educate Medicare Beneficiaries About Flu Vaccines
CMS would appreciate your help communicating with the public, especially seniors and vulnerable populations, that Medicare and Medicaid cover both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines. Seniors are encouraged to get their seasonal flu vaccine as soon as possible. The vaccine that protects against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus (sometimes called swine flu) is a separate vaccine and is available now. The first available doses of this vaccine should be given to those at highest risk of infection and complications such as children, pregnant women, health care workers and younger adults with certain medical conditions. There is some evidence that people 65 and older are less likely than younger people to be infected with the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. Please share this bilingual mini-poster with your colleagues and encourage them to post it in places where Medicare patients will see and understand the need for their seasonal flu shot and that they can get the H1N1 vaccine once the high risk groups are vaccinated. We encourage Medicare practitioners to refer patients to www.flu.gov <http://www.flu.gov> if they need more information about the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines. Information for practitioners, mass immunizers and others who want to bill Medicare for the flu vaccines can be obtained at www.cms.hhs.gov/adultimmunizations <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/adultimmunizations> . The Immunizers Q & A Guide in the download section also includes a list of regional CMS contacts on page 55 that would be helpful if you want to organize a large scale immunization clinic for seniors. CMS would also very much appreciate any feedback you can give us as to the use of this poster (e.g., did your colleagues post it in their offices, was it posted in senior centers, etc.). As always, thank you for your help in getting this important message to our Medicare beneficiaries. ________________________________________________________________________ _____________ Flu Season is upon us! CMS encourages providers to begin taking advantage of each office visit to encourage your patients with Medicare to get seasonal flu shots. Flu shots are their best defense against combating flu this season. And don't forget-health care workers also need to protect themselves. Medicare provides coverage of the flu vaccine without any out-of-pocket costs to the Medicare patient as a part B benefit. No deductible or copayment/coinsurance applies. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered Drug. For more information about Medicare's coverage of the seasonal influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp on the CMS website. For information on Medicare policies related to H1N1 influenza, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1 on the CMS website. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you received this message as part of the All FFS Providers listserv, you are currently subscribed to one of eighteen Medicare Fee-For-Service provider listservs. If you would like to be removed from all NIH listservs, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/LISTSERV_WEB/signoff.htm <https://list.nih.gov/LISTSERV_WEB/signoff.htm> ) to unsubscribe. If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/show_list_archives <https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/show_list_archives> ) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS> ). Thank you.
