- Mission [1]
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has substantial responsibilities under the Medicare Modernization Act of
2003 to provide information to Medicare beneficiaries about the range of health plans and health plan options available under
Medicare and better tools to evaluate health plan choices. Successful implementation of the Medicare Advantage program requires
CMS to consider the views and policy input of a variety of private sector constituents and develop a broad range of public-private
partnerships. The mission of the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education (APME) is to advise the Secretary and the CMS Administrator
concerning optimal strategies for: 1. Developing an implementing a national Medicare education program that describes the
options for selecting a health plan under Medicare; 2. Enhancing the federal government's effectiveness in informing the Medicare
consumer, including the appropriate use of public-private partnerships; 3. Expanding outreach to vulnerable and under-served
communties; 4. Assembling an information base of "best practices" for helping consumers evaluate health plan options and building
a community infrastructure for information, counseling, and assistance.Under the 2011 amended charter, the panel, renamed
the APOE, also provides advice on optimal strategies for: developing and implementing education and outreach programs for
individuals enrolled in or eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP; enhancing the Federal Government's effectiveness in
informing Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP consumers, providers and stakeholders pursuant to education and outreach programs of
issues regarding these and other health coverage programs, and the availability of other health coverage (e.g., via health
insurance Exchanges), including the appropriate use of public-private partnerships to leverage the resources of the private
sector in educating beneficiaries, providers and stakeholders; expanding outreach to vulnerable and underserved communities,
including racial and ethnic minorities, in the context of Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP education programs; assembling and sharing
an information base of "best practices" for helping consumers evaluate health plan options; building and leveraging existing
community infrastructures for information, counseling and assistance and drawing the program link between outreach and education,
promoting consumer understanding of health care coverage choices and facilitating consumer selection/enrollment, which in
turn support the overarching goal of improved access to quality care, including prevention services, envisioned under health
care reform.
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