What does NMEP stand for?

The Advisory Panel's role is to advise the Secretary and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator on the following: * develop and implementing a national Medicare education program that describes the options for selecting a health plan under Medicare; * enhancing the federal government's effectiveness in informing the Medicare consumer, including the appropriate use of public-private partnerships; * expanding outreach to vulnerable and under-served communities, including racial and ethnic minorities, in the context of a national Medicare education program; and, * assembling an information base of "best practices" for helping consumers evaluate health plan options and building a community infrastructure for information, counseling and assistance.

Also, the National Medicare Education Program, designed to educate beneficiaries about their benefits, includes several components that can link beneficiaries to information and assistance about Medicaid eligibility and enrollment, including a toll-free telephone help line and beneficiary counseling and other services from State Health Insurance Assistance Programs.

Officially, the agency's National Medicare Education Program is designed to educate Medicare recipients and help them make "more informed" decisions.

In response to the BBA, CMS initiated the National Medicare Education Program (NMEP) to enable beneficiaries to make more informed health plan decisions.

INTRODUCTION The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has conducted an assessment of the National Medicare Education Program (NMEP).

HCFA created the National Medicare Education Program, a comprehensive communications effort to help Medicare beneficiaries better understand the new Medicare+Choice program.

Intended to help employers identify what they need to do to ensure that their retiree health benefits programs are compatible with the Federal program over the next several years, this guide seeks to help employers better understand the options which will be available to Medicare beneficiaries under Medicare+Choice as well as describe HCFA's strategy for increasing accountability and quality and the National Medicare Education Program.