1.  Rock and roll legend Chubby Checker announced a new “Twist” to make it easier to qualify for the Extra Help Program with Medicare prescription drug costs.
 
The Extra Help Program currently provides assistance to more than nine million senior and disabled Americans, saving them an average of almost $4,000 a year on their Medicare prescription drug plan costs.
 
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said, “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.  I am thrilled that Chubby Checker has volunteered to help us spread this important message.”
 
Checker, now 68, said, “Listen up, America!  For 50 years, people of all ages and backgrounds have danced the Twist.  Now it’s important everyone learn about this new twist in the law.”
 
Checker’s public service announcement video is online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/flash/chubbychecker.htm
 
To qualify for the Extra Help Program, individuals must meet certain resource and income limits.  The new Medicare law eases those requirements in two ways.  First, it eliminates the cash value of life insurance from counting as a resource.  Second, it eliminates the assistance people receive from others to pay for household expenses, such as food, rent, mortgage, or utilities, from counting as income. 
 
More information about the Extra Help Program is online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/prescriptionhelp/
 
An application form is also online at https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/i1020/main.html
 
 
2.  Patty Duke has also made a series of public service announcements in support of signing up for Social Security online at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/flash/patty.htm and http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/flash/watusi.htm and http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/flash/beatnik.htm and http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/flash/crepesuzette.htm and http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/flash/zanzibar.htm
 
Duke, now 67, starred as two identical teenage cousins, Patty Lane and Cathy Lane, in the Patty Duke Show, which aired on ABC from 1963 to 1966.
 
The original famous theme song from the show is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTqKcojrVY
 
 
3.  Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue announced that 38 more conditions have been added to the list of Compassionate Allowances in order to quickly identify medical conditions that clearly quality for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits.
 
The process allows the agency to electronically target and make speedy decisions for the most obviously disabled individuals.  In developing the expanded list of conditions, Social Security held public hearings and worked closely with the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and other groups.
 
“The expansion we are announcing today means tens of thousands of Americans with devastating disabilities will now get approved for benefits in a matter of days rather than months and years,” Astrue said.
 
Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, said, "Now, individuals who are dealing with the enormous challenges of Alzheimer's won't also have to endure the financial and emotional toll of a long disability decision process."
 
More information about the Compassionate Allowances initiative is available online at www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances