If you're looking for a Medicare prescription drug plan, help is on the way.

Medicare, the federal health-insurance program that covers about 173,000 Rhode Islanders, has published the 2007 version of its handy guidebook "Medicare & You."

And the version that's geared to the Rhode Island market is now in the mail, said Dr. Charlotte S. Yeh, regional administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The guidebook not only explains what Medicare is and how it works, but also provides a detailed listing of the prescription drug plans that will be available to Rhode Island's Medicare beneficiaries next year.

The guide also lists some details for a number of Medicare managed-care plans, known as Medicare Advantage plans. These plans, popular in Rhode Island, essentially offer one-stop shopping.

You can get health-insurance coverage -- including preventive care -- plus prescription drug coverage in a single plan. In exchange, you typically must use a certain network of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies.

As of early last month, nearly 60,000 Rhode Island Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, said Roseanne Pawelec, spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

So if you're a Medicare beneficiary, or you have a loved one who's covered, be on the lookout -- the guide should be arriving in mailboxes within the next week to 10 days. (All the guides should be received by Nov. 1, Yeh said during a visit to Providence yesterday.)

Medicare covers most people 65 or older and the disabled. It was nearly a year ago that the program's beneficiaries first had the opportunity to pick a plan to help pay for their prescription drugs. And it was a big deal, because until then, Medicare didn't cover the cost of outpatient prescription drugs.

Because it was the program's official launch, the initial enrollment period ran for an extended period of six months.

This year, things are a bit different in several ways, Yeh said. For example:

Shorter Enrollment: Now that beneficiaries are used to things, there will be a more standard enrollment period, lasting six weeks from Nov. 15 through Dec. 31. Pick a plan during that time, and coverage will kick in Jan. 1.

However, to be sure that coverage won't be delayed, Yeh is urging beneficiaries to pick a plan by Dec. 8. "Don't be late -- remember Dec. 8," Yeh said in an interview at a downtown restaurant with the Journal's Medicare expert, Felice Freyer, and me.

More Choices: There'll be more plans from which to choose. For example, more than 20 companies will offer stand-alone prescription drug plans for next year in Rhode Island, up from 18 for this year. The companies will be offering a total of 51 stand-alone plans this time, up from 44 last time.

The guide also provides details on "Medicare Health Plans." This category includes a number of one-stop-shopping plans, mentioned above, as well as other types of plans, such as private fee-for-service plans.

(With a fee-for-service plan, you generally may use any Medicare-approved doctor or hospital that accepts the plan. The plan itself -- not Medicare -- decides how much it will pay and how much you'll pay for the services you get. These plans may not include prescription drug coverage.)

Read the guidebook carefully, especially the sections at the end that detail each plan. For some Medicare Advantage plans, you'll find a rating, letting you know what percentage of a plan's members found the plan's care to be the best.

Less Confusion: This time around, there should be few signs of the confused scramble that marked last year's initial enrollment period. That's because many Medicare beneficiaries are already in plans now and will probably stick with them for next year. "If you're happy with what you have, you don't have to make any changes at all," Yeh said.

Still, you may want to look at what's available for next year, to see how your plan compares. For example, although the average monthly premium is a bit lower than last year, some plans have raised their prices. Also, some plans have changed their structure: They may be charging a larger deductible, for instance. (If your plan has made changes for the 2007 coverage year, it's supposed to notify you, in writing, by the end of this month, Pawelec said.)

More Coverage: There are more plans this year that will charge no deductible. (A deductible is the amount you must pay, initially, for prescription drugs before insurance coverage kicks in.) Also this time around, more plans will provide at least some coverage for the "coverage gap," Yeh said. (In general, the coverage gap refers to a point during the year in which a plan may pay nothing.) And more plans this time around will be covering more drugs, Yeh said.

TODAY'S TIP: What if you didn't sign up for a Medicare prescription drug plan late last year or earlier this year because you didn't think you could afford it?

Check out the government's "extra help" program. It's generally for people who have low income and limited resources. If you qualify, you can get help paying for your Medicare drug plan's monthly premium, yearly deductible, and prescription co-payments.

Some Rhode Islanders qualify but haven't applied, said Ed Zesk, coordinator of the Medicare Rx Access Network.

To see if you may be eligible, call the Social Security program toll-free at 1-800-772-1213, or use this Web site:

www.socialsecurity.gov

If you're not a Medicare beneficiary, you should still obtain information about the program if you think a relative or friend may be eligible, said Dave Layman, who works with Zesk for Medicare Rx network. (The network helps beneficiaries -- and their loved ones -- understand the Medicare prescription drug program, sometimes called Medicare Part D.)

Don't forget, too, that the Medicare Web site has additional information, including a localized version of the "Medicare & You" guide that's now available for download:

www.medicare.gov

You may also obtain more information by calling Medicare toll-free at 1-800-633-4227.

Neil Downing is a Journal staff writer and author of The New IRAs and How to Make Them Work for You. Questions about your money matters? Call us at 1-401-277-7484 and leave a message, or e-mail:

moneyline@projo.com

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