The medicare.gov site will house Medicare beneficiary consumer information and is intended for use by the subset of beneficiaries with Internet access and for others, e.g., friends, family, counselors, who act on the beneficiaries' behalf. It will contain consumer information on Medicare+Choice, Medicare fraud abuse, health promotion campaigns, entitlement/enrollment information and State-specific information on who to contact with Medicare questions. The site is designed to be consumer-friendly and non-cluttered. We are aiming to provide information to answer the most frequent areas of concern to our population and provide ready access to information sources for more complex/unique issues.

Medicare.gov will also be the home of the Medicare Compare database. Medicare Compare is an interactive database designed to provide comparison information on Medicare health plan options. The user enters his/her zip code, county, or State of residence and the system provides a list of options available in his/her local area. The system currently provides information on benefits and cost-sharing but will be expanded to include information on quality performance and consumer satisfaction when this information becomes available.

www.medicare.gov  won the following awards in the Games:

Philadelphia, PA (May 27-28, 1998):

• Improving Access Award

Contact information:

Megan M. Arts
Public Affairs Specialist, Education and Health Promotion Group  
Health Care Financing Administration
Center for Beneficiary Services 
7500 Security Boulevard                       
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850

E-Mail: marts@hcfa.gov
Web: http://www.medicare.gov/

http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/confrnce/partnr98/Showcase/Medicare.htm