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Date: Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HCFA Press Office(202) 690-6145
Despite effective vaccines, flu and pneumonia remain the fifth leading cause of death among the elderly. In a typical flu season, the disease causes some 200,000 hospitalizations and takes 20,000 lives. In a bad year it can take up to 40,000 lives, and 90 percent of these deaths are among people 65 and older.
"Tragically, many serious cases of flu and even deaths could be prevented through immunizations," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "That is why one of the Clinton Administration's first actions in 1993 was to make flu shots free for Medicare beneficiaries." The shots are free for those enrolled in Medicare Part B who get them from physicians who accept Medicare payment as full payment.
Landers received her flu shot from Acting Surgeon General Audrey Manley, M.D., at an HHS press conference in Chicago, her hometown, as HHS launched its fall campaign to encourage senior citizens to get their free shots.
"I am here today to take my own advice and get my annual flu shot," Landers said. "I'm urging everyone else who is enrolled in Medicare to get theirs, too," Landers said.
The flu season varies. Last year, it started in November and peaked from mid-December through early January, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director David Satcher, M.D. "It's hard to predict when flu season will begin, but usually it's best to get immunized between mid-October and mid-November, and definitely before Thanksgiving," advised Satcher.
Flu shots must be given annually, as the vaccine changes from year to year to combat changing strains of the influenza virus. This year's flu shot protects against the two type A and one type B strains of flu viruses expected to circulate in the United States this winter.
This is the fourth year that Medicare will pay for flu shots. Last year the program paid for 11 million shots, resulting in an estimated 5,000 fewer hospitalizations and $25 million in savings to the Medicare program. Still, only about half of the nation's Medicare beneficiaries were immunized last year. Among African-American beneficiaries, only about a quarter were immunized.
"We are making an extra effort this year to reach the underserved," said Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, the HHS agency that oversees the Medicare program. HCFA's Horizons Project is specifically designed to increase flu vaccination rates among African-Americans. HCFA is working with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to get ministers, family physicians and others at the community level to urge African-American beneficiaries to get their flu shots every year.
HCFA is also developing new initiatives with public health and provider organizations to make it easier for providers to administer flu shots.
Information on the Medicare flu benefit is being distributed through the combined efforts of HHS agencies, including HCFA's regional offices, the Administration on Aging, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Joining HHS in this effort is the National Coalition for Adult Immunization, which includes more than 80 organizations dedicated to adult immunization.
Medicare also covers vaccinations against pneumonia. A beneficiary who has not previously received the pneumococcal vaccine can obtain it at the same time as the flu shot. For most beneficiaries, this shot need not be repeated.
(For further information on epidemiology, contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 404-639-3286.)