FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For Further Information Contact:
Desiree M. Voinche
Manager, Communications and Outreach
voinched@dfmc.org
410-872-9624

Delmarva Foundation to Monitor New Medicare Prescription Drug Program

Easton, MD, November 21, 2005 - The Medicare Prescription Drug benefit is being implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow all Medicare beneficiaries access to prescription drug coverage beginning on January 1, 2006. 

Marketing began on October 1, 2005 and Enrollment of the new benefit begins on November 15, 2005 to allow beneficiaries to choose from a variety of plans, including private prescription drug plans that offer drug-only coverage, or Medicare Advantage plans that offer both prescription drug and health care coverage.  Delmarva Foundation will be responsible for monitoring for fraud, waste, or abuse in the new Medicare Prescription Drug benefit program.  Delmarva will have the work performed by its wholly owned subsidiary Health Integrity, LLC

Health Integrity has been authorized by CMS to monitor the new prescription drug program and to investigate any beneficiary complaints related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit. 

Health Integrity is interested in receiving reports of potential fraud, waste or abuse from Medicare beneficiaries.  Examples of these types of complaints may include:

• An individual or organization pretends to represent Medicare and/or Social Security, and asks you for your Medicare or Social Security number, bank account number, credit card number, money, etc.
• Someone asked you to sell your Medicare prescription drug card.
• Someone asked you to get drugs for them using your Medicare prescription drug card.
• You feel a Medicare prescription drug plan has discriminated against you, including not letting you to sign up for their plan because of your age, health, race, religion, income.
• You were encouraged to disenroll from your plan.
• You were offered cash to sign up for a Medicare prescription drug plan.
• You were offered a gift worth more than $15 to sign up for a Medicare prescription drug plan .
• Your pharmacy did not give you all of your drugs.
• You were billed for drugs that you didn’t receive.
• You believe that you have been charged more than once for your premium costs.
• Your Medicare prescription drug plan did not pay for your covered drugs.
• You received a different drug than your doctor ordered.

Please contact us at 1(877)7SafeRx -1(877)772-3379 to report complaints about one of these types of fraud, waste, and abuse issues or a related complaint.  Our fax number is (410) 819-8698 and our website is www.healthintegrity.org.

If you have a general question or concern related to your Medicare drug benefit and it is not a potential fraud, waste or abuse issue please contact your Plan or call 1-800-MEDICARE.

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About Delmarva Foundation
Delmarva Foundation is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality in over 20 states. Since 1973, Delmarva has assisted in improving care in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, medical practices and health plans. Delmarva performs quality improvement, quality assurance, utilization review, external quality review and Program Safeguard activities. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Easton, Maryland with other offices in Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, DC; Columbia, South Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Tallahassee, Florida. For more information, please visit Delmarva Foundation on the web at www.delmarvafoundation.org.