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Friends of the Fourth
District:
Recently, I had the opportunity to join Health and Human Services
Secretary Mike Leavitt in a local town hall meeting promoting the
new Medicare prescription drug benefit program. The meeting with
Secretary Leavitt reminded me of several important dates coming up
in the months ahead that will impact thousands of Medicare
recipients in the Fourth District.
Starting January 1, 2006, prescription drug plans will be available
to the 42 million Americans eligible for Medicare. The plans will
work with drug manufactures to provide prescription medications at
significantly reduced costs for Medicare recipients. These plans are
different from the Medicare-approved drug discount cards, which will
be phased out by May 15, 2006.
It is important to remember the enrollment period is between
November 15, 2005 and May 15, 2006. If you join by December 31,
2005, your plan kicks in the next day. After that, your plan starts
the first day of the month after you join. Medicare recipients
eligible for the new coverage can expect to see information packets
tailored specifically to California and the prescription plans
available in our state coming in the mail within the next few weeks.
This is the single most important benefit to come from Medicare in
many years as the system moves from simply paying the medical bills
when something goes wrong to actually helping you pay for the drugs
you need. Even if you do not use many prescription drugs today, you
may still want to consider joining a plan as you may have to pay
more to join in the future.
Everyone who is eligible for Medicare can be covered to receive the
prescriptions they need, but all of us should learn more about it.
Personalized help is available anytime by simply dialing
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or on the Internet at
http://www.medicare.gov. I have also created links to more
information about the prescription drug benefit on the virtual home
of the Fourth District at
http://www.knabe.com.
DON KNABE
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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