Nebraska Department of Insurance
THE NEBRASKA HEALTH INSURANCE INFORMATION, COUNSELING, AND ASSISTANCE (NICA) PROGRAM
MARCH 2004 NICA NEWS
GREETINGS
Drum roll, please.....
The NICA program has undergone a name change! From this moment forward, our program will be known as Nebraska SHIIP (Senior Health Insurance Information Program). After much discussion, we felt it was best to change our program's name so it would be recognized on a national basis with the other Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) funded programs that do Medicare counseling in each state. CMS, Medicare publications, and the 1-800 Medicare counselors have always referred to each state's program as a SHIP program. Our program's hotline number, staff, and volunteers remain the same...but since everything else about Medicare is about to change, why not us?!?!Our SHIIP update trainings brought many volunteers up to speed on the Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Card and future changes coming our way as a result of the Medicare Modernization Act. Your continued attendance at these trainings is vital to keep abreast of the changes that Medicare will undergo. The changes in the Medicare law (additional preventive benefits, changes in Medicare Supplement insurance policies, and the new drug benefit, to name a few) will require more active participation on your part. Over 200,000 Nebraska Medicare beneficiaries will be required to make a decision on their current health insurance. Questions such as "Do I purchase a discount drug card or do I keep the discount card I have with my local pharmacy?" and " Do I keep my Medicare supplement policy or do I change it and purchase Medicare Part D with the new drug benefit?" will be coming your way and will not have easy answers. We need to keep our Medicare knowledge sharpened to assist beneficiaries and family members from making a costly mistake.
The Nebraska SHIIP office is here to assist all volunteers with their outreach and counseling efforts. We will continue to provide updated literature on the Medicare-Approved Prescription Drug Card as Nebraska providers are announced. We will also develop literature on the Medicare Modernization Act as the implementation time comes closer.
Let us prepare to meet the challenges ahead of us. While it may not be easy, it is certainly important for all concerned. As a team we can face this situation and move through it as smoothly as possible.