CMS's Consumer Information Efforts

In this issue of the Health Care Financing Review, we focus on consumer information for the Medicare population. Over the last several years the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has increased its efforts to provide clear and useful information to Medicare beneficia­ ries to help them make more informed health care decisions. The emphasis on consumer information increased dramati­ cally in fall 1998 with the implementation of the National Medicare Education Program (NMEP) called Medicare & You. The goals of the NMEP are to educate Medicare ben­ eficiaries to help them make more informed decisions about Medicare program benefits; health plan choices; supplemental health insurance; beneficiary rights, responsibilities, and protections; and health behaviors. CMS phased-in the initial implementation of the NMEP in five States—Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington State—in order to obtain feedback from beneficiaries and make improvements prior to the national imple­ mentation. As part of CMS’s ongoing education effort, social marketing techniques have been incorporated into its consumer infor­ mation activities. For example, beneficia­ ries are now routinely asked directly what type of information they want and how they would like to receive it, as well as their reaction to developed materials. More effort is now being spent on the part of