Press Release             

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Precht
Director of Policy and Communications
202-637-0961

Akiko Takano
Deputy Director of Communications
212-204-6214

February 18, 2010

Statement by Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker on New Office of External Affairs and Beneficiary Services at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

New York, NY—The consolidation of CMS�s Office of External Affairs and Office of Beneficiary Services into a single office reporting directly to the CMS Administrator is good news for people with Medicare. The new office will be accountable for all of CMS�s efforts to communicate with consumers�through 1-800-Medicare, through state health insurance assistance programs and community-based organizations, and through its medicare.gov web site and print publications.

The creation of a single office responsible for educating and counseling people with Medicare was a key recommendation in the Medicare Rights Center�s March 2009 report on this subject. We look forward to working with the Obama administration on the report�s other key recommendations�standardizing the health and drug plan choices facing consumers, increasing funding and support for SHIPs, Area Agencies on Aging and other community-based organizations serving people with Medicare, and improving web-based communications with consumers.

A full copy of the March 2009 report, Proposal to Restructure and Improve Counseling and Education for Medicare Consumers, is available here.

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Medicare Rights Center is a national, nonprofit consumer service organization that works to ensure access to affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities through counseling and advocacy, educational programs, and public policy initiatives.

 

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