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 2006-05-03 monographic deposited born digital 88 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-654 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654 P0b002ee18037c18e f:d06654 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654 GAO-06-654 Beneficiaries Communication Government information dissemination Health care programs Medicare Prescription drugs Program evaluation Usability Websites Written communication Customer service Medicare Part D Other Written Product A53099 On January 1, 2006, Medicare began providing coverage for outpatient prescription drugs through its new Part D benefit. Beneficiaries who enroll in Part D may choose a drug plan from those offered by private plan sponsors under contract to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which administers the Part D benefit. Beneficiaries have until May 15, 2006, to enroll in the Part D benefit and select a plan without the risk of penalties. GAO was asked to review the quality of CMS's communications on the Part D benefit. GAO examined 70 CMS publications to select 6 documents for review and contracted with the American Institutes for Research to evaluate the clarity of these texts; made 500 calls to the 1-800-MEDICARE help line; and contracted with the Nielsen Norman Group to evaluate the usability of the Medicare Web site. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654.pdf GAO-06-654 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-654 Other Written Product GAO-06-654; Medicare: Communications to Beneficiaries on the Prescription Drug Benefit Could Be Improved; Beneficiaries Communication Government information dissemination Health care programs Medicare Prescription drugs Program evaluation Usability Websites Written communication Customer service Medicare Part D Volume 117 Page 2066 117 Stat. 2066