Free Preventive benefits for Medicare Patients

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported Thursday that nearly 20.5 million people with Medicare have had a free Annual Wellness Visit or received other preventive services with no deductible or cost sharing this year, thanks to funding through the Affordable Care Act. 

In addition, nearly 1.8 million people with Medicare have received discounts on brand-name drugs in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the "donut hole," between January and August of this year. The total value of discounts to people with Medicare in the donut hole is nearly $1 billion through August of this year, with an average savings of $530 per beneficiary.

“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more people with Medicare are getting preventive services like mammograms for free,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement. “The new healthcare law is also making prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors and people with disabilities.”

Some of the free preventive services available to people with Medicare include:

• Mammograms and cervical cancer screenings

• Annual Wellness Visit

• Cholesterol and other cardiovascular screenings

• Colorectal and prostate cancer screenings

The rising number of people who are taking advantage of preventive benefits and prescription drug discounts comes as people with Medicare are beginning to review their plan options for next year. The web-based Medicare Plan Finder is now available to help beneficiaries, their families, other caregivers, and senior program advocates look at all local drug and health plan options that are available for the 2012 benefit year. The annual enrollment period begins earlier this year than last year, on Oct. 15, and runs through December 7.

Every person with a Medicare Advantage or a Part D drug plan will also see better value in those plans for the second year. Average Part D drug plan premiums will remain virtually unchanged in 2012. Those in the Part D coverage gap will continue to be able to get discounts on covered brand name drugs. People with Medicare will get deeper discounts in the years ahead until the gap is closed in 2020.

On average, Medicare Advantage premiums will be four percent lower in 2012 than in 2011, and plans project enrollment to increase by 10 percent. All beneficiaries will have access to Medicare-covered preventive services with zero cost-sharing, including the Annual Wellness Visit, bone-mass measurement, colon cancer screenings and diabetes screenings, as well as influenza and pneumococcal vaccines.