MANAGED CARE PLAN EXPANDS TO INCLUDE MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES IN ULSTER COUNTY IN NEW YORK STATE
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a request by WellCare Health Plans Inc. to expand managed care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in Ulster County in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State.
WellCare, based in Tampa, Fla., with principal regional offices in New York City, is now serving beneficiaries in Ulster County, including the city of Kingston. Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for the plan during the current open enrollment for Medicare Advantage, formerly known as Medicare+Choice. About 29,000 beneficiaries live in the county.
"We are pleased WellCare decided to expand this health plan to include more Medicare beneficiaries in New York State,” 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 company, which began serving Medicare beneficiaries in 1995, currently serves four New York City boroughs - the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens –suburban Dutchess, Greene, Rockland, Sullivan and Westchester counties, and Albany and Rensselaer counties.
WellCare’s New York organization, which does business as WellCare Choice of New York, gives another health care choice to beneficiaries in Ulster County. No Medicare Advantage plans are currently available in the county.
“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 10 new contracts with Medicare health plans and 32 service area expansions. There are currently 29 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.