MANAGED CARE PLAN OFFERED TO MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES IN SPOKANE COUNTY, WASH.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a request by Arcadian Health Plan to offer managed care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in Spokane, Wash.
Arcadian Health Plan will begin serving beneficiaries in Spokane County, starting Jan 1. Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for Medicare Advantage, formerly known as Medicare+Choice. About 65,000 beneficiaries live in Spokane County.
"We are pleased Arcadian Health Plan decided to offer this plan to beneficiaries in Spokane County,” 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.”
Arcadian Health Plan is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arcadian Management Services Inc., based in Oakland, Calif. The company, which has the product Spokane Community Care, will give another health care option to Medicare beneficiaries living in Spokane County. Beneficiaries currently are served by Sterling Life Insurance Co. Inc.
"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, when President Bush signed the Medicare Modernization Act into law, CMS has approved 15 new contracts with Medicare health plans and 42 service area expansions. There are currently 40 applications pending for new contracts and 16 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