United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-11-18 monographic deposited born digital 28 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-139R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R P0b002ee180375ae9 f:d06139r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R GAO-06-139R Customer service Drugs Government information dissemination Health care cost control Health care programs Medicare Public assistance programs Prescription drugs Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program Correspondence A41857 The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 required the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to broadly disseminate information on the program to the millions of Medicare beneficiaries--seniors and people under age 65 with permanent disabilities--who are eligible for a drug discount card. In response, CMS began education and outreach efforts designed to publicize the availability and features of the drug discount cards, provide information to facilitate beneficiary choice, and assist beneficiaries with the enrollment process. Congress asked us to provide information on CMS's efforts because the agency's experience in supporting the drug card program may yield important insights relevant to implementing the new prescription drug benefit that becomes effective in 2006. In this report, we (1) describe CMS's education and outreach efforts in support of the drug card program and review assessments of these efforts by public and private health care research organizations and (2) provide data on enrollment in the drug card program and identify factors that may have limited this enrollment. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R.pdf GAO-06-139R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-139R Correspondence GAO-06-139R; Medicare: CMS's Beneficiary Education and Outreach Efforts for the Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program; Customer service Drugs Government information dissemination Health care cost control Health care programs Medicare Public assistance programs Prescription drugs Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program Volume 117 Page 2066 Volume 117 Page 2133 Volume 117 Page 2140-42 117 Stat. 2066 117 Stat. 2133 117 Stat. 2140-42