The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a request by UnitedHealthcare of Tennessee Inc. to offer managed care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in Nashville and four Tennessee counties.
UnitedHealthcare of Tennessee will begin serving beneficiaries on Jan. 1 in Davidson County including the city of Nashville, and in DeKalb, Hickman and Rutherford counties in the Nashville area. Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for the plan during the current open enrollment for Medicare Advantage, formerly known as Medicare+Choice. About 103,000 beneficiaries live in the four counties.
"We are pleased UnitedHealthcare of Tennessee decided to offer this plan to beneficiaries in the Nashville area,” HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "Under the Medicare reform law signed by President Bush, Medicare will provide all seniors - no matter where they live - with better health insurance options, including prescription drug coverage and preventive care. The law is achieving the President's goals of strengthening and modernizing Medicare.”
UnitedHealthcare of Tennessee is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, based in Minnetonka, Minn.
The plan gives another health care option to beneficiaries in the four counties. All four counties are currently are served by Healthspring Inc. and Sterling Life Insurance Co. operates in DeKalb and Hickman counties.
"We want to make sure all Medicare beneficiaries, whether in a Medicare Advantage plan or fee-for-service, are receiving the highest quality health care," said CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. "We are doing more to guarantee that beneficiaries understand the Medicare coverage options available to them. We also are reminding beneficiaries of the need to work closely with the doctors and other health care providers that give them medical care."
Since Dec. 8, 2003, when President Bush signed the Medicare Modernization Act into law, CMS has approved 37 new contracts with Medicare health plans and 52 service area expansions. There are currently 23 applications pending for new contracts and 19 service area expansions pending.
Medicare Advantage HMOs and fee-for-service plans are available where private companies choose to offer them. Currently, about 4.6 million Medicare beneficiaries -- out of a total of about 40 million aged and disabled Americans -- have enrolled in Medicare HMOs. Original fee-for-service Medicare, currently chosen by more than 35 million beneficiaries, is available to all beneficiaries.
Medicare has a far-reaching consumer information program that includes a national toll-free phone number -- 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or TTY/TDD, at 877-486-2048 -- an Internet site -- www.medicare.gov -- and a coalition of more than 200 national and local organizations to provide seniors more information.