[BeckySchecky]

You asked, we’ve answered! Following up to our April Webinar (Health Care Reform and Your Clients), here are up-to-date answers to the questions you asked during the Webinar. The Q&A document addresses:

• The Annual Wellness Visit beginning in 2011,
• The 2011 Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 to February 14),
• The Annual Enrollment Period date change beginning in 2011 (October 15 to December 7),
• The 2010 $250 Part D rebate check,
• And more!

Thank you for all your great questions. Also, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) has launched Straight Talk for Seniors, to respond to confusion among elders with the facts about how health care reform affects them.

More Benefits Counseling Resources…

When Your Clients Are Denied
Were you able to join our June Webinar on Appeals? You now can listen here to the recorded Webinar. The Webinar reviews how you can help your clients who are denied benefits for the low-income subsidy (LIS) or Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs).

And, as a follow up to the Webinar, you can check out both the follow-up Q & A and a Portrait of an Appeal: LIS and MSP, a one-page informative cheat-sheet to help you help your clients with LIS and MSP appeals. Learn when it’s appropriate to appeal, when it’s not, and how to go about it. If you have comments, questions, suggestions — post them here.

Summer Webinar Series on Appeals Continues in July
We continue our summer Webinar series in July with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps) appeals. You can join us this Thursday, July 29. Click here to learn more and to register!

Samples to Help Explain the Part D $250 Rebate Check
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently shared a sample copy of the $250 rebate check and letter from the HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, going out to approximately 4 million non-LIS beneficiaries, who reach the coverage gap (“donut hole”) in 2010. CMS estimates about 385,000 checks have already been distributed. CMS also shared the script template being followed by 1-800-MEDICARE CSRs (Customer Service Representatives) when beneficiaries, caregivers, or counselors call-in with questions.

You can read more about the rebate check here on the MyMedicareCommunity.

For additional resources to help educate your non-LIS clients about the $250 rebate, you can use CMS’s drop-in article, New Law Includes Savings in the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Gap, available in both English and Spanish.

An Update from CMS on the New Plan Finder
CMS has been collecting your feedback to help improve the new Plan Finder recently released on www.Medicare.gov. CMS plans to provide more details during the next SHIP MMA Forum call scheduled for August 3. CMS also wants to address the concerns raised regarding the end of month release of the new Plan Finder and the minimal time for training. CMS advises it will be providing a training site where benefits counselors can preview and “play” prior to launch.

In the meantime, if you have questions or more suggestions for improvements to the new Plan Finder, you can post to the conversation thread on MyMedicareCommunity, and email CMS at SHIP@cms.hhs.gov.