[BeckySchecky]

If you were on the SHIP MMA Forum call the other week, you were reminded that Part D standard drug plan cost-sharing amounts will be the same in 2011 as they were in 2010.

There are just two slight increases: the initial coverage limit is raised (by $10) to $2,840 in 2011; and, the total out-of-pocket threshold (before a person reaches the catastrophic coverage benefit) is $6,447.50 (versus $6,440 in 2010).

Check out a side-by-side comparison chart (taken from CMS's April 5, 2010 annoucement to all plan sponsors) to help you see the standard Part D cost-sharing amounts for 2010 and 2011.


And More on Part D Looking toward 2011
There are other exciting changes to the Part D benefit coming in 2011 for your clients, thanks to the recent health care reform. For example, your clients who reach the coverage gap (“donut hole”) in 2011 will get a discount on their plan-covered drugs.

Beginning in 2011, your clients will pay 93 percent coinsurance for generic plan-covered drugs, and 50 percent coinsurance for brand-name plan-covered drugs. (Since 2006 when Part D started, your clients have been responsible for 100 percent.) The only exception to the discount on drugs purchased while in the coverage gap is for your clients with the low-income subsidy (LIS), or Extra Help. Since they never have a coverage gap, they will not see this reduction. (Their cost-sharing is always less expensive than these discounts non-LIS clients will see if they go into the coverage gap next year.)

Stay tuned as more information becomes available; we’ll be sure to share it here.

In the meantime, learn more from our updated April Webinar on Health Care Reform and Your Clients.


Learn How to Help Your Clients Appeal Their SNAP Denials
Ever wonder what you can when your clients are denied for public benefits for which you think they are eligible? This summer the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment training webinars will focus on just that -- what benefits counselors should know about appeals for the following programs: Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), the Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly known as Food Stamps) and Medicare Parts A and B.

We continue our summer series in July with SNAP appeals.

This Webinar will be offered at three different times to suit your busy schedules. We encourage you to register soon as these sessions will fill fast. The dates and times for this training are:

• Friday, July 23 2:00-3:30 pm ET - Click here to register
  
• Monday, July 26 2:00-3:30 pm ET - Click here to register
  
• Thursday, July 29 2:00-3:30 pm ET - Click here to register

Did you miss the first part of our summer Webinar series? No worries – check out our June Webinar on LIS/MSP Appeals here. We offer an audio recording, and coming soon, follow-up Q&A.


Hot Off the Press: Extra Help to Keep Extra Help Issue Brief
The NCOA’s Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment just released its latest Issue Brief, Extra Help to Keep Extra Help: Assisting LIS Beneficiaries Who Lose Their Deemed Status.

The publication offers strategies to help your clients who lose their “deemed” status get back onto Medicaid and regain their Part D low-income subsidy (LIS), or Extra Help, by applying for that benefit.

Check out the PDF version here, and let us know what you think!

You can read other Issue briefs developed by the Center for Benefits on the MyMedicareCommunity homepage or visit the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment Website for Issue Briefs and more.