Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2002 | 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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MEDICARE MANAGED CARE PLAN EXPANDS TO INCLUDE BENEFICIARIES IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today approved a request by UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina Inc. to expand managed care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in Mecklenburg County, N.C, including the city of Charlotte.
UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, based in Greensboro, N.C., can begin on May 1, 2002, to enroll and serve beneficiaries in the county. About 75,000 Medicare beneficiaries live in the managed care organization's newly approved service area.
The company, which operates as UnitedHealthcare, began to serve beneficiaries in May 1998, in North Carolina's Piedmont counties of Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth, Randolph and Alamance. UnitedHealthcare expanded in North Carolina in August 1999, to include the Triangle counties of Chatham, Durham, Orange and Wake.
"We are pleased that UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina has decided to expand this health plan to include Medicare beneficiaries in Mecklenburg County including Charlotte," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "The reality is, Medicare should provide all seniors - no matter where they live - with better health insurance options, including prescription drug coverage and preventive care. The President's principles for strengthening and modernizing Medicare will move us closer to that goal."
The plan will give beneficiaries in Mecklenburg County another health care choice. PARTNERS National Health Plans of North Carolina, a Medicare managed care plan, now operates in the county.
"We want to make sure all Medicare beneficiaries, whether in a Medicare+Choice plan or fee-for-service, are receiving the highest quality health care," CMS Administrator Tom Scully said. "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."
President Bush said recently the current Medicare+Choice system for paying private plans is not giving beneficiaries the health care options they deserve. Annual increases in Medicare+Choice funding have failed to reflect rising health care costs, leading to unreliable options and reduced benefits for seniors. Under the President's proposal, all Medicare+Choice plans will receive payment increases in 2003.
Medicare+Choice HMOs and fee-for-service plans are available where private companies choose to offer them. Currently, about 5.6 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 34 million beneficiaries, is available to all beneficiaries.
Congress created Medicare+Choice in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to expand the types of health care options available to Medicare beneficiaries, who in addition can now receive new preventive benefits and patient protections. There also is 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.
