Medicaid Preventive Health Services

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 900,000 people in our country die prematurely each year from the five leading causes of death - heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory illness and unintentional injury - yet up to 40 percent of the deaths from each cause could be prevented. Regular preventive health care, like checkups, vaccines and screenings, help prevent and detect diseases when they are most treatable. But these services need to be known about and used to be effective. 

Taking time for health checkups is important for keeping our members and their families healthy. In addition, preventive services save costs in the long run, by catching diseases before expensive treatment is required. And now there is little or no cost for regular checkups for adults enrolled in Medicaid. On January 1, 2016, adults age 21 and older enrolled in Georgia Medicaid became eligible for coverage of one preventive health visit per calendar year. The preventive health visit includes a medical history, physical exam, health counseling, health screenings (such as Pap tests and mammograms) and Medicaid-covered adult immunizations (such as flu shots). Most Medicaid enrollees pay nothing for the preventive health visit and services.

The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services has released Living Well, a set of outreach and educational materials designed to help Medicaid members, adults and children, understand the preventive benefits available to them. You can view these outreach materials that help with educating members about the importance of preventive health visits and services.

For more information about the campaign, go to https://dch.georgia.gov/medicaid-preventive-health-services and https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/outreach-tools/living-well-promoting-preventive-services/index.html