Wr227

Dear Medicare Beneficiaries:

Recent legislation included Medicare+Choice, which will result in changes to the Medicare program. These changes have helped to preserve the financial health of the Medicare trust fund for another 10 years. Importantly, you now have new preventive health benefits and new patient protections. In addition, starting in 1999, Medicare will offer new health plan choices. These choices may be important to you as a Medicare beneficiary.

To explain these changes, Your Medicare Handbook has been revised and given a new name – Medicare & You. It includes a description of the new preventive benefits available (see page 8), the new patient rights (see page 28), and the new health plan options available (see pages 9-18). It lists some of the important questions to ask and includes a list of important resources for you to use to get more information (see pages 19a-d). Medicare information is also available on the Internet at www.medicare.gov. For those beneficiaries without access to a computer, a local library or senior center may be an option for computer access.

As you read this handbook, it is very important for you to remember that if you are happy with the way you get your health care now, you don’t have to do anything. The choice is yours. No matter what you decide, you are still in the Medicare program and will receive all the Medicare-covered services.

It is also important to remember that Medicare doesn’t pay for everything, and Medicare doesn’t cover everything. To get more coverage, you may purchase a Medicare Supplemental Insurance Policy (see pages 29-30), or you may consider joining a different health plan which may provide extra benefits.

Beneficiaries interested in changing the way they receive care should consider their choices. Changing the way your health care is received is an important decision. It should be made carefully and with the help of your family, friends, or your doctor. If you or your spouse has health care coverage that supplements Medicare through a former employer or union, contact your benefits representative before you make a new health plan choice. Beneficiaries with Medicaid coverage should not make changes until they contact their state’s Medical Assistance Office.

Whether you are new to the Medicare program or not, we want you to know of our deep commitment to keep Medicare working for you.