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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HALL COUNTY, GA., RESIDENT HONORED FOR WORK AT HEALTH CARE FINANCING ADMINISTRATION
A Hall County, Ga., resident has received an award for his excellent work at the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).
Rick Jones, who lives in Flowery Branch, received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' outstanding employee award for December from HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala and Acting Deputy HCFA Administrator Robert A. Berenson, M.D., who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Jones is a health insurance specialist in HCFA's Atlanta regional office, which has about 200 employees.
Since Jones began his government career at HCFA in February 1998, he has worked on the National Medicare Education Program, which focuses on educating beneficiaries about Medicare benefits and alerting the public to the educational aids available to them, including Medicare's toll-free phone line 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), the Medicare & You handbook for 2001, and the Web site www.medicare.gov . The program also helps to educate beneficiaries about their health care options.
"Rick Jones has helped bring more information, presented in understandable language, on Medicare benefits and options to many beneficiaries and their families in the Southeast," Berenson said.
Medicare is the nation's largest insurer, providing health insurance coverage for more than 39 million Americans over 65, and people with disabilities. Medicare's preventive benefits include annual screening mammograms, other cancer screenings, and flu, pneumonia and hepatitis B vaccinations.
Jones' duties have included managing the National Medicare Education Program for Kentucky and Tennessee, part of the eight-state Atlanta region, in 1998 and 1999. He became the team leader for the region in April 2000.
His team concentrates on working with community groups and large employers throughout the region in support of the educational campaign. Jones also serves as the region's congressional liaison, handling initial inquiries from members of Congress on Medicare-related issues. In addition, he has received special recognition for providing current information to other HCFA staff members on Medicare and Medicaid issues affecting the region's millions of beneficiaries.
"We are proud of Rick and his outstanding accomplishments in planning outreach activities to Medicare beneficiaries in our region," said Rose Crum-Johnson, HCFA regional administrator in Atlanta. "Because of his exceptional commitment and dedication to the National Medicare Education Program, beneficiaries received the timely, reliable information they needed to make important decisions about their health care options."
"I never expected my job to provide such a rewarding and satisfying outcome," Jones said. "I just try to treat everyone the same way I would want my grandparents treated."
An Ohio native, Jones served in the Army from 1982-1985. He received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1989 from Georgia State University in Atlanta. Before coming to HCFA, Jones worked in claims administration and information services in the group health insurance industry.
