Medicare Part D is the new prescription drug plan coverage for Medicare-eligible individuals. Starting January 1, 2006, all Medicare eligible individuals will be eligible for the new Medicare prescription drug plans. The prescription drug plans provide insurance coverage for many branded and generic prescription drugs. The plans vary in terms of scope of coverage, cost of premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The following web sites provide information on Medicare D coverage and various drug plans.

Medicare Websites:

www.medicare.gov

www.cms.gov

Cost estimator
http://www.medicare.gov/medicarereform/MPDP_Cost_Estimator.asp

Mini tool - cost estimator
http://www.medicare.gov/medicarereform/minitool.asp

Map for Insurance plans
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/map/map.asp

Map for state explanation and coverage
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicarereform/mmaregions/pdpmap/pdpmap.asp

Medicare Formulary Finder
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicarereform/newcoverage.asp

Booklet patients will receive from CMS: 104 pages http://www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10050.pdf

General information for offices and patients
http://www.medicare.gov/medicarereform/drugbenefit.asp

The Neuroscience Group of Northeast Wisconsin presents the "Think First for Kids" program at area elementary schools to educate children between the ages of six and eight about prevention of brain and spinal cord injuries.

Prevention is the goal of the "Think First" program, a unique, award-winning program jointly founded by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The program includes a school curriculum for grades 1-3 and focuses on five key areas: water safety, vehicle safety, bicycle safety, violence, and sports and recreation.

The Fox Valley Chapter of "Think First" is sponsored by Thomas A. Lyons, MD, neurosurgeon with the Neuroscience Group, and coordinated by Tracy Galione, RN, BSN, MBA.

Several Fox Valley elementary schools have voluntarily incorporated the "Think First" program into their lesson plans. If you are interested in a "Think First for Kids" program for your school or organization please call Tracy at 920-721-1525, or email tracy.galione@thedacare.org. This hands-on program supplements the school curriculum and allows students to experience six different disabilities that could result from a brain or spinal cord injury.

Every year in the United States, 2 million people sustain traumatic brain injuries, which means one person is affected every 15 seconds. Additionally, 10,000 to 12,000 spinal cord injuries occur each year. About 40 percent of the total number of brain and spinal cord injuries occur to the "under 15" age group.

Galione introduces "Think First for Kids" by explaining the brain and spinal cord and their functions. A helmet and egg are used to demonstrate how a helmet protects the students‚ heads during an accident.

Students are then told stories of children who are injured in various activities and the type of disability they are left with. Galione and the assistance of volunteers from The Neuroscience Group and ThedaCare provide hands-on experiences.

Each grade (1 - 3) has a separate curriculum and we offer an array of classroom activities, which are designed to be integrated into various subjects such as math and science.

Examples of the stories and activities include:

1. Swallowing Difficulty
You decide to go to a movie with friends. You climb into the front seat, but you don't put on your seat belt. The roads are slippery and the driver loses control. Your car flips over and you are thrown through the window onto the highway. You suffer a brain injury. You have difficulty swallowing thin liquids. You need to have thickener placed in your pop before you can drink it. You also cannot speak well. You know what to say but cannot say it.

2. Blindness
You decide to go up to your friend's cabin. Your friend's older brother takes you and your friend on a four-wheeler. You don't have a helmet. He goes over a bump and you fall off, hitting your head on a rock. You cannot see at all. You have to go back to school and walk around with the help of a friend to guide you.

3. Wheelchair
You decide to go over to your friend's house to play. Your friend wants to climb a tree in the backyard. You get up higher than you ever went before and a branch breaks under your feet and you fall on your back. You cannot move or feel your legs. You now have to get around in a wheelchair. You try to move around the cones.

4. Numb Hands
You decide to go sledding with some friends. You thought it would be fun to build a jump. You go first over the jump and go sailing into the air. You fall off your sled and land on the back of your neck. At first, you cannot feel or move your arms and legs. You are brought to the hospital and eventually you can move your legs and walk. Your arms and hands begin to move, but you cannot feel well with your hands. It feels like you have big gloves on. You will try buttoning up shirts, tie shoes, and write with gloved hands.

5. Paralyzed Arm
You decide to go ice-skating with friends. You bring hockey sticks, but do not have protective equipment or helmets. A friend of yours tries to get a puck away from you and swings and misses and hits you in the head. You suffer a brain injury. Now you cannot move your good hand. You try to make your lunch. You have to spread peanut butter on bread with your opposite hand.

6. Paralyzed Arm and Leg
You decide to go snowmobiling with a friend's dad. They do not have an extra helmet for you. You decide to climb on behind your friend's dad. He turns down a path in the woods when you were not expecting it, and you fly off the snowmobile into a tree. You suffer a brain injury. You cannot move the right side of your body. You have to put on sweatpants with your left arm and leg only.