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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 10, 2004

Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

Statement by Tommy G. Thompson
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Regarding the GAO Report on the Medicare Education Campaign

We are encouraged that the General Accounting Office (GAO) has affirmed our efforts to educate seniors about the new benefits being offered in Medicare, including help paying for prescription drugs.

GAO confirmed that the law mandates us to educate seniors and that our ads are not political. The GAO report makes clear our responsibility to inform seniors. We feel a great responsibility to make sure seniors understand the new benefits and how they might help them.

Our current education effort gives Medicare beneficiaries an outline of the new benefits being offered and encourages them to call 1-800-Medicare for more information. We want seniors to turn to this help-line to get straight answers to their questions.

Clearly, our education campaign is meeting a desire for more information by seniors and is having a positive impact in informing beneficiaries.

Our call volume to 1-800-Medicare between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 is up nearly 70 percent from the same time period as last year. And since the ads began running, four of the top five topics callers are seeking information about prescription drug benefits. That compares to just one in five before the ads ran.

We are going to remain aggressive in our education efforts for seniors. In the coming months, our education campaign will focus on the discount drug card being made available this spring. This will include informing low-income seniors about Medicare-approved cards that provide a $600 credit to pay for their medicines. And it will include helping seniors compare the various discount cards offered by the private sector so they can make a choice that's right for them.

We're going to keep providing seniors with fact-based information on the new benefits under Medicare and give them straight answers to their questions.

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Last Revised: March 11, 2004

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