Choosing the right health care plan can have a big impact on your quality of life, especially if you’re a senior or otherwise Medicare eligible. With the 5-star Special Enrollment Period underway through November, now is the time to consider whether your current plan provides the high-quality care and value of a 5-star Medicare health plan.
To help Medicare beneficiaries understand why quality matters and what it means to their health, Kaiser Permanente, which has the most 5-star plans nationwide for 2013, is sharing information about a key area to consider when evaluating a Medicare plan — preventive care. Screenings, vaccines and tests are key, as is the plan’s capability to help manage chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
And the health care organization knows prevention. Nearly 90 percent of eligible Kaiser Permanente Medicare members received breast cancer screenings and nearly 88 percent received colorectal cancer screenings, as reported by the 2012 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, commonly known as HEDIS.
Ratings matter, because if CMS rates a Medicare health plan 5 out of 5 stars, beneficiaries can feel confident about choosing the highest-quality plan available and join that plan almost any time of year.
Learn more about the Medicare Star Quality Ratings and Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare plans by visiting Medicare’s official site or check out kp.org/medicare, or by calling 1-855-817-5831. Plan performance summary star ratings are assessed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services each year and may change from one year to the next.
