Table 1. Percent of Beneficiary Survey Response to the Medicare & You Handbook¹: 1999 and 2001.

Beneficiary Response	1999	2001
	Percent
Very Easy	19	21
Fairly Easy	59	60
Fairly Difficult	13	11
Very Difficult	2	3
Refused/Don't Know	7	6

¹The question was asked, “How easy was the handbook to understand?”

SOURCE: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Medicare Education Program. Community Monitoring Survey, 1999 and 2001.