From Sharon O'Brien,
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) will receive $30 million to help people enroll in the Medicare prescription drug plan prior to the May 15, 2006 deadline and the next annual enrollment period starting in November 2006 for drug coverage that will begin in January 2007.

“As the May 15th deadline for enrollment in Medicare drug coverage approaches, we are seeing more and more people who have not enrolled looking into what the coverage means for them,” said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., in a news release from CMS.

“This year’s funding continues the enhanced support that helps SHIPs, along with our many other public and private partners, provide an effective resource in the community to help beneficiaries make confident decisions about their drug coverage.

“The thousands of SHIP volunteers around the country are helping many of our beneficiaries take advantage of the drug coverage and all of the other benefits and protections of the Medicare program.”

What Are SHIPs?
CMS says that State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) are one of the key partners in Medicare’s education and outreach efforts for the Medicare prescription drug plan. Since enrollment began in 2005, more than 27 million Americans are receiving Medicare prescription drug coverage.

SHIP volunteers assist Medicare beneficiaries by offering personalized face-to-face counseling about Medicare prescription drug benefits, along with advice on how to significantly lower their prescription drug costs.

How Do SHIPs Work?
Over the past year, each SHIP has used a variety of methods and strategies to reach beneficiaries and their families where they live to tell them about the new Medicare prescription drug plan.

• Across the nation, SHIPs have hosted and participated in nearly 36,000 events in the last twelve months, more than double the previous year's 14,500 events.
• More than 4.2 million beneficiaries have received information and assistance from SHIP staff and volunteers about Medicare prescription drug coverage.
• SHIPs also provide information and assistance about other traditional Medicare benefits.

What the 2006 Grant Means
With the 2006 funding award, SHIPs are expected to achieve high levels of measurable accomplishments in their efforts to support Medicare beneficiaries in their local communities. CMS will continue to provide additional training to ensure that the network is fully capable of accessing and using all of CMS’ online and other support tools for the Medicare prescription drug plan.

“Because the general enrollment for the new Medicare drug coverage ends May 15th of this year, education and awareness counseling is important right now,” said Dr. McClellan. “We truly appreciate the work of the SHIPs to further increase awareness through the coming weeks so people with Medicare can make informed, time critical decisions about their health care and prescription drug coverage needs.”

SHIP Grants include a fixed award of $75,000 to each state ($25,000 to Guam and the Virgin Islands). The second portion is based on the percentage of nationwide Medicare beneficiaries who live in the state, the proportion of the state's Medicare beneficiaries to the total state population, and the proportion of the state's Medicare beneficiary population that live in rural areas.

CMS has more than doubled funding to SHIPs since 2003. In 2004, CMS provided more than $21 million and increased that to more than $31 million in 2005. CMS reports that the funding level will remain high, even after the initial enrollment period for Medicare prescription drug coverage ends, to ensure that SHIP counselors will continue to play an important role in educating beneficiaries about the Medicare prescription drug benefit and available plan options in the months ahead.

How the Medicare Prescription Drug Grant Benefits You

• In addition to personalized counseling from SHIPs, this year CMS has expanded and enhanced the 1-800-MEDICARE helpline.
• CMS Regional Offices continue to work with thousands of non-government community-based organizations and coalitions to provide information and Medicare Prescription Drug enrollment assistance to many beneficiaries.
• Through joint efforts of CMS and the Administration on Aging (AoA), the Aging Network has enlisted the active support of 10,000 aging services community provider organizations to help with beneficiary education and enrollment activities for the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.

How to Get Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Assistance

• The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) has counselors in every state and several territories that are available to provide free one-on-one help with your Medicare questions or problems. Find a SHIP counselor in your area.
• Speak to a Medicare representative by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.