Congresswoman Corrine Brown Comments on Importance of New Outreach Campaign to Protect Seniors from Scams and Medicare Fraud

Press Release

Seniors need the best information on how the Affordable Care Act affects them--and how to avoid scams--and Congresswoman Corrine Brown will be working to get this crucial information out. As a result of health reform, later this week seniors who have fallen into the Medicare Part D "donut hole' coverage gap will begin to receive $250 checks to lower their prescription drug costs. More than 4 million seniors who face the donut hole will get checks throughout the rest of the year. But that's just part of the information seniors need to know.

President Obama and the Democratic-led Congress are implementing a new outreach campaign to protect seniors and taxpayers from scams and Medicare fraud. In addition, senior administration officials are heading up efforts to give seniors the information they need to protect themselves from scams or fraud when it comes to their Medicare benefits.

"There's been so much misinformation about health care reform--and understandably, seniors are concerned," said the Congresswoman. "We will work to get the word out that the Affordable Care Act not only reins in drug costs, but extends the solvency of Medicare by a dozen years. Americans have earned it with a lifetime of work--and it will be there for them. Reform will also mean better chronic care for seniors, with doctors coordinating more on your treatment, and free preventive care. It will help more seniors stay in their homes with expanded access to community-based care. For early retirees, reform means important new benefits to help them and their employer afford coverage. And we are still working in Congress to guarantee you can keep the Medicare doctor of your choice-because they are efficiently compensated."

The first $250 checks are being mailed June 10 to Medicare beneficiaries who entered the Medicare Part D "donut hole", also known as the coverage gap, in the first quarter of 2010. The donut hole is the period in the prescription drug benefit in which the beneficiary pays 100 percent of the cost of their drugs until they hit the catastrophic coverage.

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