You can access and share a preview of the research-extension project, Getting the Most Out of Medicare's New Drug Coverage. The project, in preliminarily stages, is designed for those who care for elders, professionals and volunteers working with elderly populations as well as seniors themselves

Kosali Simon, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, has analyzed the differences in stand alone prescription drug plans offered to the 3 million NY senior beneficiaries. Coupled with the research, she and colleagues are developing tools for understanding Part D prescription plans that offer an alternative to the medicare.gov website.

According to Kosali---"While the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services has a great web-based tool to help seniors pick a plan, surveys show that only about 6% of seniors actually used the web site for researching the plans. And there is a lot of information for people to sift through. In New York State alone, there are 59 plans to choose from, with different drug prices, deductibles, premiums and coverage. Our goal was to untangle some of this information for people who don't or can't use the web and who want to look at Part D drug by drug, plan by plan."

This project receives support from the College of Human Ecology and Cornell Cooperative Extension; several CCE educators are assisting in its preliminary stages. While still in the pilot stage for this Medicare enrollment period, you can access and share information that is available electronically. The project's web address is