Press Releases
MANAGED CARE PLAN EXPANDS TO INCLUDE MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES IN POLK COUNTY IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
MANAGED CARE PLAN EXPANDS TO INCLUDE MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES IN POLK COUNTY IN CENTRAL FLORIDA
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a request by Citrus Health Care Inc. to expand managed care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in Polk County in central Florida.
Citrus Health Care, based in Tampa, Fla., is now serving beneficiaries in Polk County, including the cities of Lakeland and Winter Haven. Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for the plan during the current open enrollment for Medicare Advantage, formerly known as Medicare+Choice. About 99,000 beneficiaries live in the county.
The company began serving beneficiaries earlier this year in Florida in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties including the cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa.
"We are pleased Citrus Health Care decided to expand this health plan to include Medicare beneficiaries in Polk 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.”
The plan gives beneficiaries in Polk County another health care option to select. Other plans currently operating in the county are United Healthcare of Florida Inc., Humana Insurance Co. and Quality Health Plans 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.