Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Monday, November 22, 1999 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
For questions about Medicare please call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit www.medicare.gov. |
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HMO EXPANDS PLAN TO MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, AREA
The Health Care Financing Administration today approved a request by Mount Carmel Health Plan to expand coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in six counties in the Columbus, Ohio, area.
Mount Carmel Health Plan, based in Westerville, Ohio, can begin enrollment this month to serve Medicare beneficiaries starting January 1, 2000. The managed care plan will be offered for the first time to beneficiaries in Union County and areas of five counties not previously served by Mount Carmel Health Plan. About 40,000 Medicare beneficiaries live in the plan's newly approved service area. The plan does business as MediGold.
The plan currently serves beneficiaries throughout Franklin County including Columbus and parts of the five counties -- Delaware, Fairfield, Licking, Madison and Pickaway. (A list of the ZIP codes currently served by Mount Carmel Health Plan in the five counties is attached.)
HCFA, which administers the Medicare program, today also approved five other plans around the country, bringing the total number of applications approved this year for new or expanded service areas to 32. An additional 10 managed care plans have filed applications seeking to serve beneficiaries in new or expanded service areas.
Managed care and other new health care options, known as Medicare+Choice, are available where private companies choose to offer them. Currently, about 6.5 million Medicare beneficiaries -- out of a total of nearly 40 million aged and disabled Americans -- have enrolled in Medicare HMOs. Original fee-for-service Medicare, currently chosen by more than 33 million beneficiaries, is available to all beneficiaries.
"We are pleased Mount Carmel Health Plan has decided to serve more Medicare beneficiaries in the Columbus area," HCFA Administrator Nancy-Ann DeParle said. "While most beneficiaries are still receiving care through original fee-for-service Medicare, other managed care options are increasingly available and we welcome every opportunity to give seniors and the disabled more health plan choices."
Congress created Medicare+Choice in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to expand the types of health care options available to Medicare beneficiaries. As part of Medicare+Choice, Medicare now offers new preventive benefits and patient protections, as well as a far-reaching information program that includes a national toll-free phone number -- 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) -- a new Internet site -- www.medicare.gov -- and a coalition of more than 200 national and local organizations to provide seniors more information.
