Medicare & You 2008 Handbook

The general “Medicare & You 2008” handbook is now being mailed to people with Medicare and partners who assist people with Medicare. The handbook is available online.

"Medicare & You 2008" helps people with Medicare review their coverage options and prepare to enroll in a new plan if they choose. This official government publication contains important information about what’s new, health plans, prescription drug plans, and rights for people with Medicare. You can find 48 geographic-specific versions of the handbook on the website listed below, with drug and health plan comparison charts for particular states or regions. These are the versions that will be mailed to people with Medicare in the next few weeks.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is encouraging people with Medicare to review their current coverage this fall to see if it will meet their needs in 2008. Now is the time to help people think about the cost, coverage, and customer service that they need in a plan to get the most out of their Medicare.

This year, CMS made a number of improvements to the handbook, including:

• Highlight on preventive services. Includes a checklist for people to take to their doctor to track the preventive services they get.
• Newly designed plan data section for beneficiaries to compare health and prescription drug plans in their area.
• Four main sections: Medicare’s Covered Services, Plan Choices, Getting Help, and Finding Plans – each section begins with an introduction page that has a mini table of contents to help the reader navigate and to know what to expect in the section.
• Tabs along page margins to further aid with navigation.
• Quiz at the back of the book to get people thinking about ways to save money and to get the most value from Medicare. Full color cover with photographs to illustrate the diverse Medicare population. More photo’s throughout the book to personalize it more.
• New paper that provided millions of dollars in savings.

The state specific books are also online. Visit the state MMA webpage for more information.

Partners who pre-ordered the handbook through the publications mailing list should receive their books by early this week. Beneficiaries began receiving the book last week and all beneficiaries will have them by November 5th.