CMS unveils new app to help Medicare patients understand benefits

CMS has released a new smartphone app meant to create a modernized and efficient pathway for beneficiaries and caregivers to understand what’s covered by their Medicare plan and out-of-pocket for procedures and services.

The “What’s Covered” app is free to download on both the iOS and Google Play stores and will allow users to see if specific items or services are covered under their traditional Medicare Part A and Part B benefits. The app also provides a list of covered preventive services.

What’s Covered aims to create another pathway for the government to answer questions about Medicare coverage, which are one of the most frequent inquiries that CMS receives.

The new technology is part of a broader initiative from CMS called eMedicare that is seeking to create more personalized and consumer-friendly online experiences for Medicare beneficiaries.

These include the ability to create personalized accounts on MyMedicare.gov, price transparency tools to compare procedures done in different care settings and enabling Medicare patients to share their health information to third party applications and research programs through the Blue Button 2.0 program.

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