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1993.04.27 :  Medicare -- Payment for Flu Shots, Therapeutic Shoes

Contact:  Anne Verano (202) 690-6145
April 27, 1993

       Medicare, for the first time, will pay for flu shots and
reimburse the cost of therapeutic shoes for those suffering from
severe diabetic foot disease, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala
announced today.  
       "I am pleased the Medicare program will add these two
important preventive measures as regular benefits," Secretary
Shalala said.  "I believe this new coverage will prove to be of
great value for millions of Medicare beneficiaries."   
        The Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees
the Medicare and Medicaid programs, estimates that as many as 15
million of Medicare's 36 million elderly and disabled
beneficiaries may decide to get flu shots annually under the new
coverage.  
       Secretary Shalala also sent two reports to Congress,
summarizing HCFA's studies of the effectiveness of flu vaccine in
averting hospital admissions caused by pneumonia, and the cost
effectiveness of therapeutic shoes for Medicare beneficiaries
with diabetes.
       Based upon the research and HCFA's findings, Secretary
Shalala decided to add the benefits to the Medicare program.   
       In a four-year demonstration program, Medicare
beneficiaries in 20 states received more than 5 million doses of
flu vaccine, including over 2.5 million shots in 1992.
       The flu vaccine demonstration covered all Medicare
beneficiaries in 11 states.  Those states were Arkansas,
Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
       In the other nine states, one or more counties were
included in the project.  Those states were Arizona, Illinois,
Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Texas.
       HCFA conducted a three-year demonstration project in
California, New York and Florida, to study possible Medicare
coverage of therapeutic shoes.

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EDITOR'S NOTE:  HCFA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, directs the Medicare and Medicaid programs,
which help pay the medical bills of 67 million Americans.  HCFA's
estimated FY 1993 expenditures are almost $230 billion.