Medicare's Open Enrollment Deadline Nears; Important Beneficiary Outreach Continues
As the Fri Dec 31 deadline grows closer for people with Medicare to decide how they wish to get their Medicare health benefits for next year and whether to choose or change a Medicare drug plan, senior advocates and community-based programs are counseling and enrolling thousands of beneficiaries on their choices for the 2011 benefit year. With just days remaining in the Open Enrollment season, Medicare's popular consumer telephone- and web-based resources (1-800-MEDICARE and www.Medicare.gov<http://www.Medicare.gov>) are assisting these partner organizations and families with their efforts to encourage people who have not enrolled in a Medicare drug plan before or who need to make a change in their current coverage to do so as soon possible to ensure seamless and uninterrupted access to their medications at their chosen pharmacy in January 2011. Medicare's Open Enrollment season continues to generate high levels of activity on 1-800-MEDICARE, www.Medicare.gov<http://www.Medicare.gov>, and at the thousands of counseling events around the country. To sustain awareness, CMS executed a multi-faceted outreach campaign on the national and local levels to ensure that people with Medicare receive personalized assistance to make a confident decision in health and drug coverage plan selection. For more information about the Open Enrollment deadline, please see the CMS press release (English & Spanish) issued Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at https://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press_releases.asp. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December Flu Shot Reminder It's a Busy Time of Year. Make each office visit an opportunity to talk with your patients about the importance of getting the seasonal flu vaccination and a one-time pneumococcal vaccination. Remember, Medicare pays for these vaccinations for all beneficiaries with no co-pay or deductible. The seasonal flu and invasive pneumococcal disease kill thousands of people in the United States each year, most of them 65 years of age or older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that health care workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu. Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please visit the following CMS websites: http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/Flu_Products.pdf and http://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) 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.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
