Medicare Modernization Act
 Part D Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage


On Thursday, September 1, 2005, CWDA in partnership with the County Mental Health Directors Association, California State Association of Counties, and County Health Executives Association of California hosted a symposium on Part D implementation and issues for counties. The materials on this page include handouts from the symposium, resource links, and information received since the symposium concluded. We will be updating the page with additional handouts as we get them from the presenters.

Symposium Handouts

Agenda

Part D Overview (Presentation by Cathy Senderling)

Panel 1
Behavioral Health Perspective (Presentation by Uma Zykofsky)

Panel 3
Medicare Part D Planning Tool - Under 65 (World Institute on Disability)
Medicare Part D Planning Tool - Over 65 (World Institute on Disability)
9-22 Town Hall Meeting in Los Angeles (World Institute on Disability)

Federal Resources

Extra Help/Low Income Subsidy

• New Fact Sheet Posted 11/4/05: The fact sheet "Extra Help for the Basic Premium" explains how the extra help applies to Medicare drug plans with an enhanced alternative option.
• Enrollment letter sent to beneficiaries: During the week of 11/1/05, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began mailing auto-enrollment letters to full-benefit dual eligible Medicare beneficiaries. The letter lets the beneficiary know the Medicare prescription drug plan in which they will be enrolled if they do not take any action prior to January 1.

General Part D Information

• Information and Resources Related to the Errors in the "Medicare & You 2006" and "Medicare Y Usted 2006"Handbooks. CMS has made the following resources available.
• An English package that includes:
  Notice of Errata 10/20/05
  Action Plan for Notifying Low-Income Subsidies Beneficiaries of Plan Options
  Landscape of Local Plans (description)
  Revised SSA Prescription Drug Assistance ? Notice of Award
  Listserve Message to Partners 10/03/05
  HPMS Message to Prescription Drug Plans 10/03/05
  1-800-MEDICARE Script 10/03/05
  Partner Script 10/03/05
  PDP Script 10/03/05
• A Spanish package that includes:
  Notice of Errata 10/18/05
  General Message for Partners
  Action Plan for Spanish Handbook Error
  Language for CMS Publication Mailing List
• A Revised Auto-Enrollment Letter for Dual-Eligibles

Plan Government Contact Info

• CMS has made available this Excel file containing the government contact information for the approved pharmacy plans.

State Resources

Emergency Drug Coverage

• Governor's Press Release (1/17/06): The Governor announces his extension of the emergency coverage initiative that took effect on January 12, 2006, serving as the payer of last resort for California beneficiaries who cannot get prescriptions through Part D due to federal implementation problems.
• CWDA Press Release commending Governor Schwarzenegger (1/13/06): "We commend Governor Schwarzenegger for recognizing the life-threatening situation that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable, low-income California residents have been placed in as a result of the federal implementation problems," says Executive Director Frank Mecca.
• Updated Provider Bulletin (1/17/06): According to DHS, beneficiaries heading to their pharmacies should bring a copy of this bulletin with them, along with their Medicare and Medi-Cal cards and a copy of any acknowledgement letters they may have received from Medicare and/or their Part D plan.

Resource Links

Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS)
    Medicare home page: www.medicare.gov
    CMS home page: www.cms.hhs.gov
    Main Part D Partnerships page: www.cms.hhs.gov/partnerships
        (Many outreach materials and toolkits to download and order)

Social Security Administration (SSA)
    Main page: www.ssa.gov
    Main Part D page: http://www.ssa.gov/prescriptionhelp/

California Health Advocates: The California HICAP Association
    Main Page: http://www.cahealthadvocates.org/

World Institute on Disability
    Main Page: http://www.disabilitybenefits101.org/

Health Consumer Alliance
    Main Page: http://www.healthconsumer.org/
    Medicare Page: http://www.calmedicare.org/

National Senior Citizens Law Center
    Main Page: http://www.nsclc.org/