NEW ORELANS HEALTH CARE EXPO

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Radisson New Orleans Airport
Veterans at Williams- Kenner, LA

7:30 am: Registration, Continental Breakfast & Visit with Exhibitors

8:30am - 12:30pm: Speaker Program

• 3 Hours of Life & Health Continuing Education Credit
• Exhibit Hall Featuring Representatives From All Parts of the Industry
• All attendees receive the Expo Interactive CD Program & detailed exhibitor listings
• Great Door Prizes, including $100 Cash!

30 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Now Receiving Prescription Drug Coverage

Medicare announced today that more than 30 million Medicare beneficiaries are receiving prescription drug coverage, including more than 8 million beneficiaries who have gotten new, individual prescription drug coverage since the program began. More than 93 million prescriptions were filled for these beneficiaries with drug coverage during March -- averaging 3 million prescriptions filled per day.

In addition, 5.8 million people with Medicare get drug coverage from the Veterans Administration and other sources with prescription drug coverage equal to Medicare -- bringing the total to approximately 35.8 million Medicare beneficiaries who are now receiving prescription drug coverage.

"With a month to go, we've passed our projections of 28 to 30 million enrollees in the first year, and we are intensifying our local outreach efforts to get more seniors signed up before the May 15th deadline," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. "These strong enrollment numbers are a tribute to everyone in the national network of caring -- all of our partners, community leaders, the State Health Insurance Programs (SHIPS), and family members, who have provided counseling and assistance to the millions of beneficiaries who are now taking advantage of this new benefit and saving money."

"Signing up is as easy as three simple steps," Leavitt said. "One: Get your prescriptions together. Two: Get your Medicare card. Three: Call 1-800-MEDICARE or go online at www.medicare.gov."

More than 8 million people with Medicare now are enrolled in stand-alone prescription drug plans, an increase of 1.7 million in the last four weeks. Close to 1 million people have enrolled in Medicare Advantage health plans, with prescription drug coverage. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that nearly all of the beneficiaries who have enrolled have chosen a plan that has no deductible, low premium or provides some kind of coverage in the coverage gap.

"The May 15th deadline is fast approaching. We urge everyone who has not signed up to act now to avoid a last minute rush," said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. "There are plenty of ways to get help. Call 1-800-MEDICARE or attend one of the many thousands of events we are conducting with our partners across the country before the May 15th deadline. Sign up now and start saving on your drugs. And if you don't need drugs now, by signing up you can get the lowest cost protection for the future."

CMS and its 10,000 grassroots partners are conducting more than 1,800 enrollment events across the country each week up until the May 15th enrollment deadline. Additionally, CMS has increased resources to keep the wait times down and beneficiary support up at 1-800-MEDICARE and www.Medicare.gov.

Overall prescription drug coverage figures as of April 18 are:

• Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs): 8.1 million people with Medicare have enrolled in stand-alone prescription drug plans. This total includes 1 million beneficiaries who had their enrollment facilitated by CMS. This subset of beneficiaries were either automatically approved for the low income subsidy or applied for the subsidy through the Social Security Administration or states, but had not selected a prescription drug plan on their own.
• Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drugs (MA-PDs): Nearly 5.8 million beneficiaries receive coverage through Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage (MA-PDs). More than 950,000 MA-PD beneficiaries have signed up on their own since the program began.
• Medicare/Medicaid: About 5.8 million were automatically enrolled in prescription drug plans, plus about 500,000 enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage.
• Retiree Coverage: More than 6.8 million retirees are enrolled in the Medicare retiree subsidy. In addition, about 1.4 million retirees are in employer and union-sponsored coverage that incorporates Medicare group drug coverage.
• Federal retiree coverage: 3.5 million
  • TRICARE: There are 1.9 million beneficiaries with TRICARE retiree coverage.
  • FEHB: There are 1.6 million beneficiaries with FEHB retiree coverage. This figure includes spouses with Medicare who are covered under a FEHB family policy by retirees who also have Medicare coverage.
• Additional Sources of Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare Beneficiaries: Approximately 5.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have alternative sources of “creditable” prescription drug coverage:
  • Veterans Affairs (VA): There are an estimated 3.2 million beneficiaries with creditable drug coverage through the VA.
  • Indian Health Service (IHS): There are an estimated 0.1 million beneficiaries with creditable drug coverage through the IHS.
  • Active Workers with Medicare Secondary Payer: There are an estimated 2.0 million beneficiaries who are active workers with creditable drug coverage through an employer group health plan.
  • Other Retiree Coverage: An estimated 500,000 retirees are continuing in coverage from a former employer that is not coordinated with Medicare drug coverage.

To view enrollment data online visit cms.hhs.gov/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/02_enrollmentdata.asp.

Would You Want to Call You?

What is your attitude towards a ringing telephone? Do you consider it an interruption of your busy day or the source of potential business? When the telephone rings do you think, "What do they want now?" or "I wonder what awesome opportunity awaits me at the other end of the line?"

For most of us our initial contact with prospective customers is via telephone. And it seems increasingly that we are answering our own phones - at all times of the day and night. So what message are you communicating when you answer the phone? Is the tone of your voice telling customers and prospective customers that they are the most important thing in your life at that moment? Or are you telling them - simply by your tone - that they are an unimportant interruption to your busy day? Does the way you answer the phone - and I'm not talking about what you say but how you say it - make people glad they called and cause them to want to develop an ongoing relationship with you and your business?

One of my college roommates used to insist that we let the phone ring twice before we answered it. After all, we didn't want the guys to think we were sitting by the phone waiting for them to call. And this is good advice when answering your business phone as well. Not because you don't want prospective customers to think you are sitting by the phone waiting for them to call - but because it will give you a moment to change your frame of mind - to shift your attention from what you are currently doing to the incredible opportunity that may be awaiting you when you pick-up the telephone.

Pausing a few seconds before you answer the phone will give you the opportunity to give the ringing phone your undivided attention and change your frame of mind from "What do they want now?" to "What fabulous opportunity awaits me?" If you can't give the call your undivided attention, if you can't muster the enthusiasm to greet the person on the other end of the line - regardless of who it is -- like you have just been waiting to talk to them, then don't take the call. The caller doesn't know they are intruding on your lunch meeting or that you have just started an important meeting, so if you choose to answer the call, be careful not to make them feel like an interruption.

Do you want to capture the power of the telephone as a sales tool? It doesn't require hours of dreaded cold calling. It simply requires answering your phone each and every time regardless of what you are doing and regardless of what may appear on your caller ID like there is an amazing opportunity awaiting you on the other end of the line.

Next time your telephone rings stop what you are doing, say to yourself, "I wonder what tremendous opportunity this call is going to bring", and answer the phone like you are expecting this to be the call that brings you the that big break - the big sale you've been dreaming of, or that contact who can put you in touch with the CEO you've been wanting to meet. Put a note on your phone if it helps that says "This call is bringing me a remarkable opportunity" and harness the power of the telephone as a sales tool.

10. Keep good records: Keep track of your doctor visits and payments for all medical expenses from aspirin to eyeglasses. You can claim deductions on your tax return once your medical bills (beyond your coverage) exceed 7.5 percent of your AGI.