Nebraska Department of Insurance
THE NEBRASKA HEALTH INSURANCE INFORMATION, COUNSELING, AND ASSISTANCE (NICA) PROGRAM
JULY 2003 NICA NEWS
GREETINGS
Summer is here and so is your NICA Newsletter! We are a little slow this quarter in publishing the newsletter, but those late night re-runs on C-Span about Medicare changes have been distracting. Actually, the NICA program office has been working at lightning speed. The last three months have been packed with initial trainings in 4 different locations, one state conference for over 100 attendees, submission of NICA performance reports to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and my attendance at a Medicare Supplement Conference in South Carolina and the National SHIP Director's Conference in Washington, D.C. We are finding out there is no rest for the weary when it comes to Medicare. Just ask our Congressional Leaders who continue to toil away at Capitol Hill in an effort to provide prescription drug coverage. This newsletter will not contain any updates on this subject since it seems to change everyday. However, know that once the final seal of approval has been given, the news will hit your doorstep with the specifics on the plan.NICA submitted its end of the year report to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on May 30, 2003. You will find the statistics on page three of this newsletter. As I collected, reviewed and summarized the reports, it became very apparent that our NICA counselors devote an enormous amount of time to serving Nebraska Medicare beneficiaries and their loved ones. I know they are grateful for your hard work, and L. Tim Wagner, Director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance, also expressed his gratitude to the volunteers at the June Update Conference.
Those of you who attended the Update Conference on June 17 and 18 were given 1½ days of excellent information that pertained to Medicare beneficiaries. Our NICA trainer, Amy Larrick, did a fantastic job coordinating this event with Penny Clark who represented the ECHO and Long Term Care Ombudsmen volunteer programs. Amy's dedication to this program, and her commitment to the volunteers, was evident when the end of the conference came and she just didn't want to quit talking! We had an excellent time and the reviews were great.
So get busy reading your newsletter! You'll find tons of great outreach activity ideas from other volunteers, and articles on important issues that beneficiaries need to know about. Especially with the implementation of a prescription drug benefit in the near future, your outreach efforts will be truly important to the seniors in your community.
Robin Szwanek