FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
HHS partners with pharmacies to educate Medicare beneficiaries about new health benefits
Today, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced partnerships with several pharmacies to help customers learn about new Medicare benefits available to them under the Affordable Care Act – the health care law. These partnerships – with CVS Caremark, Walgreens, Thrifty White, Walmart, and Sam’s Club – will provide Medicare beneficiaries a range of educational materials on newly available preventive services, as well as savings on prescription drug spending in the “donut hole” coverage gap. At a CVS in Jacksonville, Secretary Sebelius discussed the new preventive services and received a free blood pressure reading at the CVS MinuteClinic.
“Our pharmacy partners are helping their customers make informed health care decisions,” said Secretary Sebelius. “These partnerships will help people with Medicare learn more about new preventive services such as mammograms, and the new Annual Wellness visit that are available at no charge for everyone with Medicare.”
Some examples of how pharmacy partners are working to increase awareness of preventive services available under Medicare include the following:
- CVS Caremark is distributing material about new preventive services covered at no cost to beneficiaries at its more than 7,300 CVS/pharmacy stores and 600 MinuteClinic locations, through brochures, register receipt messages and online.
- Thrifty White Pharmacy is providing information on preventive services through its 85 locations throughout the Midwest.
- Walgreens is distributing information in nearly 8,000 pharmacies and over 350 Take Care Clinic locations, as well as using in-store announcements and providing this information as part of its Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour with AARP.
- HHS is working with Walmart and Sam’s Club to provide healthcare information to their shoppers online.
Other pharmacies or partners can find information on how to work with CMS to educate consumers about the benefits available to them at: http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-
To learn more about Medicare, visit www.medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048. This announcement is available on the CMS web site at: http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/
Current Partnership Opportunities
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducts Outreach and Education for consumers on a variety of topics related to better health and program benefits. You can help us spread the word!CMS is currently focusing outreach on the availability of preventive screenings and services for people with Medicare. As a result of the Affordable Care Act, many of these services are available now for little to no out-of-pocket costs to consumers. Publications and other educational materials are available for your organization to use to help CMS educate the public about these important program benefits. See the Related Links below, and check back often for additional information.
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