Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Friday, January 05, 2001 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
For questions about Medicare please call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit www.medicare.gov. |
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MEDICARE & YOU 2001 HANDBOOK RECEIVES AWARD FOR CLARITY
The Health Care Financing Administration's Medicare & You 2001 handbook, which was mailed to 34 million homes last year, won a No Gobbledygook Award today in a ceremony at the White House Conference Center, under the auspices of Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government. The inter-agency task force bestows the award upon federal employees who translate cumbersome legislative language into everyday parlance that is easy to understand.
Ironically, the award is a turkey etched onto a plaque meant to represent the absence of gobbledygook.
"The clear, concise, and well-organized information in the Medicare & You handbook helps people make important health care choices," said Dr. Robert A. Berenson, HCFA Acting Administrator. "We're very proud of the handbook and the many staff members who worked on it."
The Director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, Morley Winograd, presented the award to HCFA writers Susan Hollman and Valerie Perkins. Also present to accept the award were Mary Agnes Laureno, Director, Beneficiary Education and Publications Group, Janice Drass, Director, Division of Beneficiary Education; Erin Pressley, Chief, Publications Development Branch; and editor Amy Minor.
No strangers to awards this year, HCFA employees also achieved the Gold Award for Best Health Plan Site in the annual eHealthcare World Awards given in New York City in December. The Web site received over 8 million hits last October.
"HCFA's consumer Internet Web site, www.medicare.gov, the handbook, and our telephone help line, 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) are all part of our comprehensive effort to provide beneficiaries with the most up-to-date information in ways that are easy to access and to understand," Dr. Berenson said.
