MEDICARE MANAGED CARE PLAN EXPANDS TO INCLUDE ALL BENEFICIARIES IN ALAMEDA COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a request by Health Net of California Inc. to expand managed care coverage to all Medicare beneficiaries in Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California .
Health Net of California, based in Woodland Hills , Calif. , will begin on Jan. 1 serving beneficiaries in eastern Alameda County , including the city of Livermore . ZIP codes in the newly approved service area include 94550, 94551, 94514 and 95391. Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for the plan during the current open enrollment for Medicare Advantage, formerly known as Medicare+Choice. About 7,500 beneficiaries live in the health plan’s new service area.
"We are pleased Health Net of California decided to expand this health plan so it now will include all Medicare beneficiaries in Alameda 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.”
Health Net of California , through its Health Net Seniority Plus product, began serving Medicare beneficiaries in 1992. The company currently serves beneficiaries in 15 California counties, including Los Angeles , Orange , Sacramento , San Diego and San Francisco .
Health Net of California is a subsidiary of Health Net Inc., based in Woodland Hills. The plan gives another health care choice to beneficiaries in Alameda County . The other Medicare Advantage plans currently operating in the county are Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and PacifiCare of California/Secure Horizons.
“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 41 new contracts with Medicare health plans and 56 service area expansions. There are currently 20 applications pending for new contracts and 21 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.