For Immediate Release: November 21, 2005

Contacts: Lee Carty, 202-467-5730 x 121, leec@bazelon.org

Worksheet Eases Choice of Medicare Drug Plan

Choosing the Right Plan, worksheet for choosing a prescription drug plan

November 21, 2005 – A worksheet produced by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law will help Medicare beneficiaries who have a mental illness – and others who are confused about the new drug benefit – choose a prescription drug plan.

The new plans go into effect starting January 1, 2006. Medicare recipients are faced with complicated choices among an average of 40 plans with varying monthly premiums, annual deductibles and cost shares for each of their prescription drugs. They can obtain this information from the Medicare website or telephone operators, insurers and other sources.

Users of the worksheet can record on a single sheet of paper all the information they collect about the plans that interest them. They can then see which plan offers the best access to their medicines at the lowest cost and with the fewest limitations.

Titled Choosing the Right Plan, the worksheet and detailed instructions for using it is available both as a booklet and on the Bazelon Center’s website, at www.bazelon.org/issues/general/drugs.

Both worksheet and instructions will also be available soon in Spanish, as Escoja el Plan de Medicare para Recetas Médicas Más Apropiado Para Usted.

The worksheet is online in two formats: one to print on tabloid-size paper and another in two half pages to print on letter-size sheets that can be taped together. The instructions can be printed directly or copied into a word processor.

The booklet combines the worksheet with the instructions. It may be purchased through the Bazelon Center’s online bookstore, www.bazelon.org/publications, or by sending $3 to cover the cost of shipping and handling to Publications Desk, Bazelon Center.1101 Fifteenth Street NW, Suite 1212, Washington DC 20005.