More than 5.5 million Medicare beneficiaries have taken advantage of the free preventive services offered under the Affordable Care Act, but that number is far short of the 33 million who are eligible under the new law, according to a new report from Medicare officials.
Beginning this year, Medicare beneficiaries have been eligible to receive recommended preventive services ranging from mammograms to smoking cessation counseling with no copayments or deductibles under Medicare Part B. Also among the new benefits this year is an annual wellness visit at no cost to beneficiaries.
Between Jan. 1 and June 10, more than 780,000 people on Medicare had an annual wellness visit, according to the report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Mammograms, bone density screenings, and prostate cancer screenings were among the most popular preventives services so far this year.
On June 20, federal officials launched a public outreach campaign aimed at making more beneficiaries and physicians aware of the new benefits. The campaign, called "Share the News, Share the Health," includes television and radio advertisements, information on the Medicare.gov website, and a letter to physicians urging them to discuss the preventive services with their patients.
Dr. Donald Berwick
"People trust their doctors," CMS Administrator Dr. Donald Berwick said during a press briefing held by the CMS.
Dr. Berwick predicted that visits to physicians, particularly those in primary care, will increase substantially once more patients are aware that preventive services are available for free.
"These are very important benefits, and I expect we’re going to see a lot of increasing interest, especially now that barriers have been lowered," he said.
This is part of an overall shift toward prevention within health care, Dr. Berwick noted. The federal government recently released its first-ever National Prevention Strategy, which brings together several government agencies to focus not only on improving access to health care services, but also on other factors such as air quality, drug abuse, and violence.