It's sad that people need to receive incentives $$$ to simply take care of themselves and their infants. However, if this kind of program can divert medicaid patients from an emergency room to a medical center for a regular check up than it is a good program and money well spent. The return on this kind of investment is priceless.
People need to be re-educated. Most of these people have been conditioned by their parents that it is okay NOT to see a doctor and to go straight to the emergency room when they have an illness. Their parents NEVER took them to a doctor regularly or a dentist or an optometrist. The reality, the hard cold truth is we need to re-train their THINKING and lifestyle they are accustomed to... of neglect! If this is what it takes to get people to care about their health, then we should be adopting this program across the United States! This is the positive side of CAPITALISM at work for the greater good of society. It took a PRIVATE medical group to come up with this idea and NOT our government. Can you see how our government has miserably FAILED medicaid patients. Washington needs to seriously consider MEDICAID REFORM and NOT the public plan they are trying to push onto 85% of Americans that are happy with their medical plan!
People need to be re-educated. Most of these people have been conditioned by their parents that it is okay NOT to see a doctor and to go straight to the emergency room when they have an illness. Their parents NEVER took them to a doctor regularly or a dentist or an optometrist. The reality, the hard cold truth is we need to re-train their THINKING and lifestyle they are accustomed to... of neglect! If this is what it takes to get people to care about their health, then we should be adopting this program across the United States! This is the positive side of CAPITALISM at work for the greater good of society. It took a PRIVATE medical group to come up with this idea and NOT our government. Can you see how our government has miserably FAILED medicaid patients. Washington needs to seriously consider MEDICAID REFORM and NOT the public plan they are trying to push onto 85% of Americans that are happy with their medical plan!
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The Associated Press
Debit cards reward Medicaid patients for care
written by TOM MURPHY - AP Business Writer
Monday August 31, 2009 at 4:15 pm
INDIANAPOLIS - Some Indiana Medicaid patients can now earn money to spend on health care simply by visiting the doctor or seeking routine preventive care.
Managed Health Services announced on Monday a new debit card program that rewards patients for making regular trips to the doctor, taking care of their babies and getting screened for several conditions.
Participants can earn between $10 and $20 on their cards for each visit or screening. They can then use that to buy health-related items like cough syrup or thermometers.
"What we're trying to do is promote the healthy behavior and make sure the people are getting the right things that they need," said Pat Rooney, president and CEO of Managed Health Services, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based health insurer Centene Corp.
Patients can earn $15 simply by visiting a primary care doctor within 90 days of joining the program. An annual checkup leads to another $20 deposit on the card.
Parents who take their newborn children for required checkups can receive $10 per visit. The program also serves children covered by the State Children's Health Insurance Program up to age 20.
Money also can be earned through screenings for breast and cervical cancers, diabetes and the venereal disease chlamydia.
"A lot of times when a member joins the plan they are pregnant, and we want to get that chlamydia screen done as soon as we can," Rooney said.
In some cases, patients might add more than $100 to their card over a year, Rooney said.
Managed Health Services is one of three companies that administer Medicaid coverage in Indiana. The card applies only to patients under their plan.
Rooney said Managed Health Services debuted a similar program more than a year ago in South Carolina, and patients appear to be seeing their doctors more since that program started.
"Just getting people in to see their primary care doctor is always a challenge with this population," he said. "They tend to want to go to the emergency room for care."
Arizona State professor Marjorie Baldwin said she'd like to see incentives like this for preventive care in health insurance. She notes that other forms of insurance give discounts for preventive measures like smoke alarms in a home.
Baldwin, who was not involved with the Managed Health Services program, is director of Arizona State's School of Health Management and Policy. She noted that the Indiana program addresses access issues and preventive care, topics also discussed as part of the federal government's push to overhaul the health care system.
"I think it's a really good example of how the health system is being reformed from the grass roots up," she said.
Debit cards reward Medicaid patients for care
written by TOM MURPHY - AP Business Writer
Monday August 31, 2009 at 4:15 pm
INDIANAPOLIS - Some Indiana Medicaid patients can now earn money to spend on health care simply by visiting the doctor or seeking routine preventive care.
Managed Health Services announced on Monday a new debit card program that rewards patients for making regular trips to the doctor, taking care of their babies and getting screened for several conditions.
Participants can earn between $10 and $20 on their cards for each visit or screening. They can then use that to buy health-related items like cough syrup or thermometers.
"What we're trying to do is promote the healthy behavior and make sure the people are getting the right things that they need," said Pat Rooney, president and CEO of Managed Health Services, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based health insurer Centene Corp.
Patients can earn $15 simply by visiting a primary care doctor within 90 days of joining the program. An annual checkup leads to another $20 deposit on the card.
Parents who take their newborn children for required checkups can receive $10 per visit. The program also serves children covered by the State Children's Health Insurance Program up to age 20.
Money also can be earned through screenings for breast and cervical cancers, diabetes and the venereal disease chlamydia.
"A lot of times when a member joins the plan they are pregnant, and we want to get that chlamydia screen done as soon as we can," Rooney said.
In some cases, patients might add more than $100 to their card over a year, Rooney said.
Managed Health Services is one of three companies that administer Medicaid coverage in Indiana. The card applies only to patients under their plan.
Rooney said Managed Health Services debuted a similar program more than a year ago in South Carolina, and patients appear to be seeing their doctors more since that program started.
"Just getting people in to see their primary care doctor is always a challenge with this population," he said. "They tend to want to go to the emergency room for care."
Arizona State professor Marjorie Baldwin said she'd like to see incentives like this for preventive care in health insurance. She notes that other forms of insurance give discounts for preventive measures like smoke alarms in a home.
Baldwin, who was not involved with the Managed Health Services program, is director of Arizona State's School of Health Management and Policy. She noted that the Indiana program addresses access issues and preventive care, topics also discussed as part of the federal government's push to overhaul the health care system.
"I think it's a really good example of how the health system is being reformed from the grass roots up," she said.
