Dr. Benjamin Kornitzer, Chief Medical Officer of Aetna at CVS Health, discusses #MedicareAdvantage @aetna @cvshealth

Dr. Benjamin Kornitzer, Chief Medical Officer of Aetna at CVS Health, talks with host Cyrus Webb on Conversations LIVE to discuss Medicare Advantage and what you need to know before enrollment ends. 

www.medicare.gov 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live. I'm your
host Cyrus webs So glad you guys go to join
us once again for a radio audience tuning in at
max to WYD ninety four point one FM and WYED
online dot com. We're glad that you all can be
with us. Also to join this online worldwide dra podcast
at I Heart Radio on Amazon Music. Be glad you
all could be with us as well. This is part
of a news even You segment here at WYAD, and

(00:22):
today we're talking about Medicare enrollment. It is that time
of the year again. The Medicare annually enrollment period has
begun and it runs through December the seventh. It's an
important time for Medicare eligible Americans to think about their
healthcare needs for the coming year and if you got
their new to Medicare advantage or any of the other
plans we're excited about. Our next guest is joining us today.

(00:43):
We're excited to welcome doctor Benjamin Cornetter to our broadcast.
He serves as the chief Medical Officer of EDNA at
CVS Health. He's going to talk to you guys and
only about what you need to know about Medicare Advantage,
but also who qualifies on how to get more information
that the corner said, thank you so much for the time,
really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Thank you for havinging me Cyrus.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, I'm excited about this. Open enrollment is always one
of those times I think that that people are interested
in to be able to get the information I mentioned.
Medicare advantage, Dot the corn it's there, What exactly is it?
And who is eligible for it?

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Sure?

Speaker 3 (01:15):
So, Medicare Advantage is a special insurance program for adults
over the age of sixty five who are eligible for Medicare.
But it really offers some unique benefits that you know,
we think really line up very well with what you
know seniors need to promote healthy aging and Dot.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
The corner is there for audience out there that may
be wondering, Okay, maybe I meet the age requirement. What
are some of the question questions they should be asking
before they choose their plan this year?

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Sure so, as they look at different plan offerings, they
should ask themselves, you know, do this plan fit their budget?
They should think about where they're currently getting care. So
are their current providers, whether it's doctors, whether it's hospitals, pharmacies.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Are those covered. They should also think about some of.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Their unique health needs or their unique situation. So, for example,
they're eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare, they may be
eligible for what it's called a dual need special program.
They may have chronic conditions like diabetes or congestive heart failures,
so we can talk about those, but there are special

(02:21):
programs that really are designed for those populations. And then
you know what medications are they taking, are those covered
by the plan? And then are there extra benefits that
really matter to them? And so access to gyms, recreational facilities,
flex cards that can help pay for healthy groceries over
the counter items.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
That's the corner that you mentioned. Diabetes. Of course here
in Mississippi, unfortunately, that is one of the things that
is very prevalent in our state. What are the options
for people with chronic conditions like diabetes.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Sure, so we recognize that, you know, we really need
to have special attention for people with those chronic conditions,
and so that can be you know, everything from you
making sure that there's zero or no codepas as they
see primary care doctors or specialists, it could be helping
them to have additional levels of care, coordination, allowances for

(03:17):
over the counter items, and then also benefits that will
help them cover the medications they need to cover those
chronic conditions.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
One thing I'm always interested in up the corners there
is that you know, there are people course that may
be new to the program Medicare Advantage, but also there
are some who are already enrolled. Why should they take
a look this year for one, to see what may
have changed, but also see if steel if their plan
is the best for them.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Yeah, and so people you know, will normally get documentation
of how the plan changes in September. They should look
really closely at that material to understand things like how
are the benefits evolving, What does that mean in terms
of their out of pocket spending, their deductibles, their coinsurance,
which doctors are included in the network, which medications are included.

(04:09):
We know for seniors medications are really important as well,
and actually mean one thing. I just do want to
make sure that we do mention that's unique to Medicare
Advantage across the board. As opposed to traditional Medicare, there
are caps on your annual out of pocket spending. We
know that's really important to seniors. It also includes things

(04:31):
like it and that we make sure every single plan
this year has dental coverage, vision coverage, hearing coverage, and
again for seniors, those are things that we know are
really really important to and so think about these as
packages that really try to address the total health needs
that are important to seniors.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Love then great information at the corners this one. We're
so glad to have you on with us again everyone.
Doctor Bittaman Cornet has been our guest serves as a
Chief Medical Officer at at at CV as Health talklenty
all about Medicare advantage, especially because the Medicare Anyone in
Roman period has begun again as I mentioned, it runs
through December seventh. That the quints and where can our
audience go for more information?

Speaker 3 (05:10):
Sure, the first place they should go is medicare dot gov.
There they can enter in their zip code and see
which plans are available to them in their area. They
can also call the phone numbers listed on that site.
There are always local, you know, trusted brokers and community advisors,
and they should make sure to reach out to those individuals.

(05:31):
And if they'd love to learn more about the ETNA program,
they can certainly come to Medicare dot com and there
we have resources where they can understand the different plan offerings,
look at different checklists to see what you know fits
best for them and their needs, or they can call
us at our eight one hundred number. That's eight four

(05:53):
four five eight eight zero zero for one. We're really
proud of the programs that we've put together to help
support seniors as part of the CBS Health family. We
think that meeting people where they are and providing them
with connected help is something that's really meaningful, and so
we just appreciate the opportunity to engage with you and your.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Audience well did the pleasures of the online We appreciate
being able to share this and we thank you again
for stopping by and looking forward to speaking with you again.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Great thanks so much, Cyrus, more.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
Than welcome, and we thank your audience are tuning in
to another great segment of Conversations Live again. Part of
it needs to go use segment here at WYAD until
next time you have a Sarius website is always enjoy
your day, enjoy your life, jury your world. Thank you
Offertism and Conversations Live and let's go make today amazing.
Take care