Medicare beneficiaries have received copies of a brochure titled "Medicare and the New Health Law: What It Means for You." The mailing, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, outlines key provisions of the Affordable Care Act for people with Medicare and their families. The publication may be viewed online at www.medicare.gov, ordered online, or obtained by calling 800-663-4227. It is CMS Product No. 11467.

The guaranteed Medicare benefits you currently receive remain the same under the new law. During open enrollment this fall, you will continue to have a choice between Original Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare will continue to cover your health costs the way it always has, and no changes in eligibility will occur.

You and your family can take advantage of some important benefits starting this year, with other key benefits slated for 2011 and beyond.

Here is a summary:

2010

• If you enter the Part D "doughnut hole" this year, you receive a one-time $250 rebate check if you are not receiving Medicare Extra Help. These checks began being mailed in mid-June and will continue through the year as beneficiaries enter the coverage gap.
• Employers providing retiree health insurance get funding to encourage continued coverage to early retirees.
• Temporary insurance, also known as the "high-risk pool," begins covering people who were denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition and have been without insurance for six months.
• Young adults up to age 26 may remain on their family's health insurance plan.
• Persons with new employer-based or individual insurance plans do not have to pay a deductible and other out-of-pocket costs for certain preventive care services.
• Insurance companies cannot drop your coverage if you become sick.
• Insurance companies cannot place lifetime limits on health coverage. Some restrictions on insurance companies' use of arbitrary annual limits on your health coverage are put in place.

2011

• Those who reach the Medicare doughnut hole receive a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs and a 7 percent discount on generic drugs.
• Medicare benefits expand to include free coverage for wellness and preventive care.
• It becomes easier to file complaints about quality of care in a nursing home. Better access to information on nursing home quality and resident rights is available.
• Workers start participating in a voluntary national insurance program to help pay for future long-term care services and supports.

2014

• "Exchanges" begin offering health insurance coverage with comprehensive benefits.
• Premium subsidies are available for those with limited incomes who purchase health insurance through an exchange.
• Children, parents, and childless adults who do not have Medicare and who have a limited income may apply for Medicaid.
• Insurance companies are banned from putting annual limits on health coverage.
• Insurance companies can't deny health coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
• Spouses of people on Medicaid who receive care services at home get the same protections for income and other resources as spouses of those on Medicaid who live in nursing homes.

2020

• The Medicare Part D doughnut hole is completely closed.

Look for more details concerning Medicare implications of the Affordable Care Act in your Medicare and You handbook coming this fall.

For answers to your questions about Medicare and the new health law, visit www.medicare.gov, call 800-633-4227, or call the Johnson County SHICK (Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas) program at 913-715-8856.