Aug 17 2012
The Department of Health and Human Services is touting a partnership with major retail pharmacies to tell seniors about health law benefits.
CQ HealthBeat: Pharmacy Chains Join Effort To Tell Seniors About Health Care Law's Benefits
On the heels of a new blitz by Republican candidates to depict the health care overhaul as a threat to the Medicare program, the Obama administration on Wednesday announced a collaboration with major pharmacy chains to tell seniors about the benefits of the law. "We know that pharmacies are among our most effective messengers," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a press call announcing the partnerships with CVS Caremark, Walgreens, Thrifty White, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club (Reichard, 8/15).
The Hill: Major Pharmacies To Tout Benefits Of Health Care Reform Law For Seniors
Prominent pharmacies such as CVS Caremark and Walgreens will promote the health care reform law's benefits for seniors, federal health officials announced. The joint effort between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and major pharmacy chains means Medicare beneficiaries will have better access to details about the administration's health law, HHS stated (Viebeck, 8/15).
And the Academy of Actuaries denies Republican claims they are trying to help revive the CLASS Act, the defunct health law program that would have financed long-term care in America --
Politico Pro: Actuaries Fired Up About CLASS Claims
The Academy of Actuaries is taking two Republican lawmakers to school over their claims that the nonpartisan number crunchers are plotting to bring the CLASS Act back from the dead. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) this week accused HHS of trying to revive the CLASS Act after Politico reported that federal officials took part in broad, private stakeholder conversations about long-term care financing. The conversations, convened months after the Obama administration shut down the CLASS Act, had touched on the troubled program but the purpose wasn't to resurrect CLASS (Millman, 8/15).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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