Media contact:
Scott Parkin (202) 479-6975
Statement of James Firman
Chair, Access to Benefits Coalition
President & CEO, The National Council on the Aging
"Medicare: Covering America Event"
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
September 30, 2004
Thank you, Secretary Thompson, Dr. McClellan, Assistant Secretary Carbonell and other distinguished guests.
The Access to Benefits Coalition was formed to help lower income Medicare beneficiaries find and make use of the best combination of prescription savings programs. We now have a massive network of over 90 national non-profit organizations that are going to enroll millions of beneficiaries over the next year and a half. These organizations include most major groups representing older persons, people with disabilities, religious organizations, health and social service groups and many others. We will also join with CMS in efforts to enroll lower income beneficiaries in Medicare Part D.
People who have Medicare and need the most help want it from someone nearby that they trust. We now have 52 local coalitions in 34 states whose mission, like that of the organizations announced today, is to reach out and enroll millions of seniors and younger persons with disabilities who have Medicare in prescription savings programs.
Lower income Medicare beneficiaries are leaving more than $5 billion on the table. Some beneficiaries will benefit most from enrolling in the Medicare-approved discount card and getting the $600 credit this year and next. Others will benefit from getting the discount card and taking advantage of pharmaceutical company programs that kick in once the $600 credit is used up. Still others can find savings from state savings programs, company patient assistance programs or discount card programs such as Together Rx or the Lilly Share Cards.
Our coalitions are already helping people to significantly reduce their prescription drug costs using the Coalition's online service, available on our Web site --www.accesstobenefits.org. It makes the job of finding the best combination of programs easy. Here's an example of both grassroots outreach and the power of our online service in action. We just heard from one of our local coalitions LIFE Senior Services in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They recently screened a 52-year old woman who receives disability benefits of $918 a month, but her five prescriptions cost $533 a month or more than $6,000 a year. If she enrolls in the programs identified by our service, including a Medicare approved discount card, two company wraparound programs and a patient assistance program, her prescription costs will drop to $25 per month.
Those family members or others who want to help lower income beneficiaries reduce their prescription costs are already using our new, powerful Web-based enrollment service. A daughter who works for the federal government right here in Washington went to www.accesstobenefits.org on behalf of her mother who takes 8 medicines and is paying over $600 a month. While her mother was ineligible for the Medicare transitional assistance program, she was eligible for 5 patient assistance programs and is looking forward to reducing her prescription costs to $75 a month.
We hope these stories are only the beginning. We believe our local coalitions will find and help enroll many others and significantly reduce the costs of their medicines. Low-income beneficiaries can save a lot more than the $1,200 credit over the next 15 months if they find out about their eligibility for these other programs. Many people whose incomes are as high as $19,000 for an individual and $25,000 for a couple can also lower their prescription costs using state and company-sponsored savings programs.
We encourage family members or others who want to help those in need to go to www.accesstobenefits.org and use our online service to find the best combination of savings programs.
With 1.3 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries already enrolled in the transitional program and perhaps another 1.8 million targeted for facilitated enrollment that still leaves 4 million low-income beneficiaries to find and enroll. We all need to work together to make this happen. With the combined efforts of ABC, CMS and hundreds of community-based organizations nationwide, we will succeed in helping millions of those with the most need maintain their health and improve the quality of their lives.
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