Archive of HAP's eNewsletters
2009

December

• New and Updated Tools for AEP Toolkit
• Working to Move and Extend the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)
• HAP's Conference Call on December 16
• New SHIP Locator Map
• Health Action 2010: HAP to Host Workshops Highlighting SHIPs' Efforts
• Spotlight on HAP: Collaborative State Projects (CSPs)
• HAP Submits Comments on Medicare Advantage and Part D Regulations
• SHIPTools Can Help You Manage Your SHIP Program
• Take Time to Thank Your AEP Volunteers
• New Medical Debt Fact Sheets and Consumers Guide Now Available
• Improvements to Medicare Beginning January 1, 2010
• Looking Back: Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMBs) and Medicare Cost-Sharing

November

• HAP eAlerts Now Available in New Archive
• Don't Forget to Keep Track of Successes During AEP!
• HAP Expands Online Medicare Library to include Medigap
• SHIPTools Debuts New Virtual Forum Feature
• CMS Offers Proposed Rules for Medicare Advantage and Part D
• 2010 Medicare Premiums Are Announced
• New Program to Assist Low-Income Beneficiaries at the Pharmacy
• UPDATE: WellCare Suspension Lifted
• Medicare Fraud in the News
• Health Reform and Medicare Beneficiaries: More Resources and Information
• Illinois Governor Honors SHIP, Declares SHIP Week
• Now More than Ever, Older Americans Living in Poverty

October

• Spotlight on HAP: AEP Tools and Support
• 2010 AEP Toolkit: AEP Resources from HAP and Others
• Need Quick Answers to AEP Questions?
• New Best Practice! "Cross-Border" Training: A Unique Partnership Between the Colorado and Utah SHIPs
• SHIPTools Welcomes Illinois!
• New SHIPTools Videos to Help SHIPs during the AEP
• More on Troubleshooting Medicare
• Recap of September Conference Call: More Strategies and Tools to Help QMB Clients
• New Volunteer Tools to Help with AEP
• New DMEPOS Supplier Enrollment Rules Are Now in Effect
• CMS Tells MA Organizations to Stop Misleading Mailings to MA Plan Enrollees
• Opportunity for Beneficiaries to Access Food Stamps

September

• Calling All SHIP Directors
• Pre-AEP Tools to Rev Up Your SHIP
• Thank You SMP Conference Sponsors and Participants!
• New Best Practice: Arizona's Rural Outreach Strategies
• HAP Submitted Comments on Draft Part D Manual Chapters
• New Improvement to Calculation for LIS Benchmarks
• 2010 Updates for SHIPs
• HCR and Medicare Beneficiaries
• September Conference Call: More Strategies and Tools to Help QMB Clients

August

• Start Logging Issues Now!
• "Troubleshooting Medicare" Issue Categories
• August Conference Call, Next Steps: Strategies and Tools to Help Your QMB-Eligible Clients
• July Shout Out Now Available
• New HAPSavers Now Available
• HAP Submits Comments on Chapter 4 of CMS's Medicare Managed Care Manual
• CMS Releases LIS Outreach Targeting Data
• Certain WellPoint Enrollees Entitled to a Part D SEP (July to September 2009)
• Who Is Volunteering in Your Community?
• Looking for Tech-Savvy Volunteers?
• Medicare Beneficiaries and Medical Debt
• KFF's Outlook on Medicare's Financing and Fiscal Future
• Prepare for the AEP

July

• Troubleshooting Medicare: Help HAP Identify and Address Systemic Issues Affecting Medicare Beneficiaries
• July Conference Call: Working Together To Help Medicare Beneficiaries
• HAP Conference Call "Shout Out" Now Available
• HAP Submits Comments on Model ANOC/EOC
• Get Involved! United We Serve
• Scam Alert: Medicare Scam Targeting Physician Offices
• Efforts Made to Help Curb Rising Costs under Medicare Part D
• Follow-up to June’s Advisory Alert on QMB Cost-Sharing

June

• New Staff Member Joins HAP Communications Team
• SHIP Directors Conference: HAP Reception Roundup
• What’s New with HAP’s Project to Help Medicare Beneficiaries?
• Ready Your SHIP: What You Need to Know about MIPPA for 2010
• Comments on CMS’s Draft PDP and MA Enrollment Guidance
• Want to Make Your SHIP More Buoyant?
• Helping SHIPs Prepare for Upcoming Plan Non-Renewals
• CMS Releases 2009 Corrective Action Plan
• CMS Releases Proposed 2010 Budget
• Social Security Trustees Release Annual Report
• Quick-Look-at-States Fact Sheets
• HAP Advisory Alert: Providers and MA Plans Cannot Bill QMBs for Medicare Cost-Sharing

May 2009

• HAP Workshops and Reception at SHIP Directors Conference
• HAP Conference Call Update
• Recent Shifts in 2010 Medicare & You Handbook and Call Letter
• Opportunity for SHIPs to Share Feedback
• CMS Publishes PFFS Provider Network County List
• New Head of Health and Human Services Confirmed
• Procedure Update for Part D Denials and Shortages
• Stimulus Checks for Nursing Home Residents
• New Volunteerism Legislation: The Serve America Act

April 2009

• New Collaborative State Projects (CSPs)
• Coming Soon: HAP’s Updated Training Manuals
• HAP Launches New Project to Help Medicare Beneficiaries
• Now Available: Updated Plan Numbers for SHIPs
• Update on the Medicare and You Handbook
• Study Finds Fraud and Abuse in Medicare Home Health Payments
• Economic Recovery Payments to Go Out in May
• NCOA Announces Grantees

March 2009

• Welcome Our Newest HAPper
• Thank You CSP Applicants
• Following Up on HAP’s February Webinar
• CMS's Revised Draft Call Letter for 2010
• CMS Considers Two-Month Delay for Competitive Bidding Regulation
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Medicare Beneficiaries
• New Ways to Think about Volunteers
• Research Finds Medicare Varies Widely Per Beneficiary, By Region
• HHS Secretary Selection Is Announced

February 2009

• HAP's February Call Is a Webinar
• Learn More about the State of the SHIPs
• 2009 Federal Poverty Levels Guidelines Released
• CMS Issues Rule on Part D Protected Drug Classes
• Suspension of WellPoint Enrollment and Marketing
• Best Available Evidence Policy
• Medicare Expands Coverage of Off-Label Cancer Drugs
• Engaging Boomers: A New Webinar Series
• MIPPA Funding Opportunities Now Available
• Improving Access to Care for Limited English Proficient Beneficiaries
• Health Affairs Examines Medicare Payment Policies

January 2009

• HAP Team Member Heads to Nursing School
• OEP Toolkit to Help in the New Year
• Join Us in D.C. for Health Action 2009
• CMS Sets Limits on Broker/Agent Compensation for MA and Part D Plan Sales
• CMS Releases New Chapter of Prescription Drug Benefit Manual
• CMS Launches New 5-Star Rating System for Nursing Homes
• Illustration Explains the Doughnut Hole
• Get Involved: January Is National Mentoring Month!
• States Struggle with Budget Cuts to Senior Programs
• CBO Estimates Cost of Changes to Medicare
• New GAO Report Assesses PFFS plans
• Report Finds Increasing Costs in Cancer Drugs
• CMS Supports GAO Recommendations to Amend the AEP Schedule