Latest Medicare+Choice Stories
Health reform brings changes to Medicare. The October 15 – December 7 AEP is a short window of time that allows people with Medicare who are dissatisfied with their current Medicare coverage or are looking for a more budget-friendly plan to enroll in a new Medicare Advantage plan. Birmingham, AL (PRWEB) September 22, 2011 Health reform brings changes to Medicare. VIVA Medicare Plus is debuting a new campaign entitled “Enjoy Life†aimed at informing Alabama residents of...
“Medicare Changes 2012: Five Things You Need to Know†explains important program changes and offers tips to help seniors make wise coverage decisions Madison, Wisconsin (PRWEB) September 19, 2011 Medicare keeps on changing: benefits, costs, and even the deadlines for signing up or switching plans. As this year’s Annual Enrollment Period approaches, it’s important that Wisconsin residents have the information they need to make better, more informed decisions about...
OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente encourages Medicare beneficiaries to review their current health plan ratings carefully and take advantage of an earlier Medicare open enrollment start date. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a new date this year for changing plans. This year, open enrollment begins October 15 and runs through December 7, 2011. For beneficiaries changing or joining a new plan, the changes will take affect on January 1,...
BALTIMORE, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Care Improvement Plus, operator of the largest chronic conditions special needs plan in the United States, will offer health plan services to more chronically ill and underserved Medicare beneficiaries next year, having secured approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of its 2012 Medicare health plan contracts in six additional states in advance of the upcoming Medicare open enrollment period. "Care Improvement Plus is dedicated...
With earlier AEP start dates, people on Medicare must pay particular attention this year so they don't miss their opportunity to change plans. Madison, Wisconsin (PRWEB) August 31, 2011 WPS Health Insurance, Wisconsin’s leading not-for-profit health insurer and provider of Medicare Part D plans and Medicare supplement plans, reminds Medicare beneficiaries that Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) begins October 15 and ends December 7 this year, a full month earlier...
New CMS Regulation Will Also Reduce New York State Economic Activity by $388.1 Million, Study Shows; New York Suffers 4th Largest Loss of Medicare-Funded Nursing Home Care Nationally NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new analysis by Avalere Health finds that a new regulation recently issued by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reducing Medicare-funded nursing home care by $79 billion over ten years nationally will result in a $321.2 million...
Annual changes to Medicare Part D plans mean seniors should be vigilant to ensure that they continue to receive high-quality coverage from a stable and reliable source Madison, Wisconsin (PRWEB) August 19, 2011 In 2010, only 1 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries over the age of 65 planned to review their Medicare coverage options for 2011.(1) Why is this statistic troubling? Because Medicare health plans change every year. Benefits can change, costs can change, entire plans can disappear"”and...
In health care, more choice may not always lead to better choices, particularly for the elderly.In a new study, researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy found that the large variety of managed care plans offered by the Medicare Advantage program may be counter-productive. Elderly patients, particularly those with low cognitive ability, often make poor decisions"”or no decisions at all"”when faced with an overwhelming number of complex insurance choices....
STAR+PLUS Program Integrates Acute Care and Long-Term Care Services Houston, TX (PRWEB) August 05, 2011 HealthSpring, a leading Medicare Advantage plan, announced Monday, August 1, 2011, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) selected HealthSpring to provide STAR+PLUS managed care services for aged, blind, and disabled Medicaid patients in the Hidalgo Service Area. The Hidalgo Service Area includes ten counties in the lower Rio Grand Valley: Cameron, Duval, Hidalgo, Jim...
New Cuts from CMS With Likelihood of More Cuts From Congress Cause for Significant Alarm AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Texas Health Care Association (THCA) today warned that deep, new Medicare cuts instituted Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) combined with the possibility of more new Medicare and Medicaid cuts that could result from the pending federal debt ceiling legislation places seniors and caregiver jobs in an extremely...
