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Commissioner of Social Security, Michael J. Astrue, and the Grammy Award winning rock and roll legend, Chubby Checkers, launched a campaign to inform Americans about a new "twist" on qualifying for extra help with Medicare prescription drug costs. The extra help program currently provides assistance to more than nine million senior and disabled Americans, saving individuals on average almost $4,000 a year on Medicare prescription drug plan costs.

"The changes in the Medicare law that take effect this month will allow hundreds of thousands of Americans who are struggling to pay their prescription drug costs to get extra help during these tough economic times," said Commissioner Astrue. "I am thrilled that Chubby Checker has volunteered to help us spread this important message through a new television, radio, and Internet spot as well as pamphlets and posters."
"Listen up, America! For 50 years, people of all ages and backgrounds have danced the Twist," Chubby Checker said. "Now it's important everyone learn about this new twist in the law. Check it out at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/

To qualify for extra help, individuals must meet certain resource and income limits. The new Medicare law lowers those requirements by eliminating the cash value of life insurance from counting as a resource and eliminating the assistance people receive from others to pay for household expenses, such as food, rent, mortgage or utilities, from counting as income. In addition, the application for extra help may initiate the application process for Medicare Savings Programs, which are state programs to provide help with other Medicare costs (such as Medicare Part B, medical insurance premiums). In certain cases, the Medicare Savings Programs also may pay Medicare Part A (hospital insurance premiums), and Part A and B deductibles and co-payments.

To learn more about the extra help program, access the easy-to-use application, and to view the new TV spot featuring Chubby Checker, go to http://socialsecurity.gov/extrahelp

The Social Security online Retirement Estimator, available at http://www.socailsecurity.gov/estimator, now can provide immediate and personalized benefit estimates to individuals who have enrolled in Medicare but have not yet filed for Social Security benefits. Previously, these "Medicare only" beneficiaries were required to contact a local office in order to obtain estimates of their benefits. Currently, about a 500,000 people file for Medicare and delay filing for Social Security benefits each year.

"Social Security's Retirement Estimator has been a huge success - with the agency providing over four million personalized retirement estimates to Americans since its launch last year," Commissioner Astrue said. "With more people delaying retirement beyond the Medicare eligibility age, it is critical that they also have access to this easy-to-use online tool."

The Retirement Estimator is interactive; it allows users to compare different retirement scenarios. For example, a person can change retirement dates or expected future earnings to assess the impact on their future benefits and determine the best time to retire. The Retirement Estimator presently has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any government online service and, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, it even trumps the ratings of private sector online innovators such as Netflix and Amazon.

Commissioner Astrue also announced the Retirement Estimator will be the first Social Security online service to be made available in Spanish. "Social Security serves a diverse population and we already offer services by phone and in-person in a variety of languages," Commissioner Astrue noted. "Offering the Retirement Estimator in Spanish will be an important step in making our online services even easier for everyone to use."
To learn more about the Retirement Estimator go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator