CHA Blog

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has “Welcome to Medicare” videos in Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese available on Youtube. These 22 minute videos provide easy-to-understand information about the basics of Medicare, including Medicare Advantage plans, Part D prescription drug plans, Medidare preventive services and the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). See the video clips below.

These videos are also available on DVD — for free! You can go to the CMS Product Ordering site to register and order on-line.

If you need more than 25 copies, please email Anne Avery at CMS’ Baltimore office at SHIP@cms.hhs.gov and she will mail them to you. Please be sure to include the following information when you send your order in:

• Chinese or Vietnamese (or both)
• Name of organization and point of contact
• Address
• Email and phone number
• Quantity

See Medicare.gov for publications in other languages as well.

Below are the youtube video links:
 

Medi-Cal is no longer paying the Medicare Part B premium for any Medicare beneficiaries who have Medi-Cal with a Share of Cost (SOC), unless they meet their SOC in a given month. The change is the result of a budget trailer bill (Senate Bill 853) amending Welfare and Institutions (W&I) Code 14005.11, and is estimated to affect about 700 beneficiaries throughout California. It expands the policy change made in November 2008 when the state stopped paying the Part B premium for people with SOCs over $500. The recent change took effect April 1, 2011; for those affected, the Part B premium will be deducted from their Social Security checks beginning in May 2011.

If you are affected by this change and now have to pay the Medicare Part B premium, make sure your county Medi-Cal office screens you for other programs that pay the Medicare Part B premium. County Medi-Cal offices are required to screen all affected beneficiaries for programs such as the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) – Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB), Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB), and Qualified Individual (QI-1) – which pay the Medicare Part B premium as a benefit.  Beneficiaries who currently have one of these 3 MSPs continue to have their Medicare Part B premiums paid, regardless of whether they also have Medi-Cal with a SOC.

If your income is too high to qualify for any of the MSPs, you may consider the California Working Disabled (CWD) program. The CWD program allows people with disabilities the opportunity to work, earn income up to 250% of the federal poverty limit (FPL) and still qualify for full Medi-Cal without a SOC. People who qualify for the CWD program pay a monthly premium for their full Medi-Cal benefits ranging from $20-$250 for an individual and $30-$375 for a couple. For most people who qualify for the CWD program, paying the monthly premium every month and getting full Medi-Cal benefits is better than having to meet their SOC every month before getting assistance from Medi-Cal. See our section on Medicare Savings Programs for more info on the MSPs and the 250% California Working Disabled program.

See the 6-page All County Welfare Department Letter (ACWDL no. 11-15) (PDF) for details about this change.

Saturday, April 30 is the 2nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.  Sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), this event gives people the opportunity to turn in unused or expired medications for safe disposal. People can find a disposal site near them on the National Take Back Initiative website.

The first event on September 25, 2010 was a huge success, with people across the nation turning in more than 121 tons of pills, and over 3,000 state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide participating in the event.

Safe disposal of unused or expired drugs addresses both an important environmental and public health concern. According to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 7 million Americans (adults, teens and kids) abuse prescription drugs, and a majority of these are obtained through family and friends, including the family medicine cabinet.

See the event website for more details, and please pass on the information.

The health care law’s discount on brand-name drugs for some Medicare beneficiaries has been used by 48,000 people who saved a combined $38 million (an average of $800 per person) through the first 2 months of this year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

New HHS figures released in March also show that the 11,000 Medicare enrollees who have already hit the Medicare prescription drug benefit’s annual out-of-pocket maximum this year have saved $1,175 on average as a result of the health law. The number of Medicare beneficiaries who buy discounted drugs is expected to increase throughout the year.

People who opt for the Medicare Part D drug insurance program pay a portion of their prescription bills until they’ve spent a total of $2,840 in drug costs and deductibles. That’s when they hit the coverage gap, also known as the donut hole. At that point, they must pay all the drug costs until they have spent a total of $4,550 out-of-pocket for the year. Then they reach catastrophic coverage, where they pay the greater of 5% of their drug costs or a copayment of $2.50 for generics, $6.30 for brand name drugs. See our Prescription Drugs section for more info.

Starting in January of this year, Medicare beneficiaries hitting the donut hole receive a 50% discount on brand-name drugs and 7% discount on generic drugs to help offset the cost of prescriptions. Even when getting the 50% discount, the full price of the drug counts toward reaching the $4,550 limit to get out of the donut hole and into catastrophic coverage.

The law closes the doughnut hole by 2020. For more information on the changes in Part D prescription drug coverage prompted by the health reform law, see our article, “50% Discount on Part D Brand Name Drugs Starts Jan 1st.”

This article is edited in part from a Kaiser Health News article, 3/22/11.