$40 CVS gift for free in-home health visit

[broadway]

I received both an email and snail mail.

This is what is written:

Good preventive care is key to good health. That's why Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is working with Matrix Medical Network to offer you a free in-home health visit. And you'll receive a $40 CVS Pharmacy® gift card just for completing this visit!

First, I am not keen on having a stranger in my home.
Second, I had my annual physical exam just yesterday so this timing isn't exactly good.

Thoughts?

I am guessing it is for those who don't have annual exams.

 

[MichaelB]

This doesn't sound like an in-home check-up. More like an information gathering encounter that helps in insurer decide if it makes sense to build a care plan.

 

[broadway]

This doesn't sound like an in-home check-up. More like an information gathering encounter that helps in insurer decide if it makes sense to build a care plan.

a care plan?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

If the 40 bucks wont materially change your life i would skip it. I turned down just today $300 to open up a chase account. They wanted a monthly direct deposit commitment. Im not keen on having strangers in my home, certainly not for 2 twenties.

 

[broadway]

I wasn't planning on accepting, but I am curious the purpose of this offer.

The in-home visit will be by a nurse and will take 1 hour according to the email.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I wasn't planning on accepting, but I am curious the purpose of this offer.

The in-home visit will be by a nurse and will take 1 hour according to the email.

i suspect to sell you something, when the smoke clears you will be out far more than the 40 they gave you. Switch insurance carriers, change your medications, sign you up with new doctors, get you to have some immunizations. With my luck they nurse will tell her friends "oh wow i went to a nice retirees house, he has nice stuff, their friends prone to burglary child will over hear this, rob my house, and the shingles vaccine they suggested i take causes me a stroke.

 

[GrayHare]

I've seen those offers and deemed them medical phishing.

 

[broadway]

I've seen those offers and deemed them medical phishing.

But the email and snail mail came from Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ which is my insurance company.

 

[Just_Steve]

But the email and snail mail came from Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ which is my insurance company.

They are getting ready to put into the high risk pool.

 

[GrayHare]

But the email and snail mail came from Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ which is my insurance company.

Have you seen a plan doctor within the past year? If not, they may want to get an idea of your current health, how much you (they) are spending on rx they might say you don't really need, etc.

 

[Hermit]

Humana offers in-home health visits. I think it is more of a nanny kind of thing. I would guess they are looking for things like tripping hazards, etc. that could ruin an elderly customer's health. I have no intention on taking them up on their offer.

 

[travelover]

........and the shingles vaccine they suggested i take causes me a stroke.

Everyone knows that vaccines make you artistic.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Everyone knows that vaccines make you artistic.

ok, in that case i would be arrested as a graffiti artist

 

[CaptTom]

I think it's just another attempt at preventive care. I suspect insurers are under a lot of pressure to get more proactive and less reactive, mostly to save costs and also because that's the "in" thing in health care now.

I don't see it as a bad thing. Although there are no doubt better ways to deliver health care, everyone's trying to improve the system we've got.

 

[broadway]

Have you seen a plan doctor within the past year? If not, they may want to get an idea of your current health, how much you (they) are spending on rx they might say you don't really need, etc.

You didn't read my post about having my annual physical exam on Wednesday.

I can only guess I wasn't targeted, because I certainly do take advantage of preventative measures offered by my medical plan.

They're really gun-ho about this. They also called me and left a voicemail today.

 

[MichaelB]

a care plan?

I have seen this with UHC and BCBS. They probably are looking to build a medical history and inventory of current status on policyholders. If they identify any need for chronic care, which can be very costly, they then suggest a care plan that they can coordinate and use providers of their choice.

Their incentive is to reduce the costs by recommending more preventative measures and taking the initiative in setting up plans to deal with ongoing and continuing needs.

 

[broadway]

I have seen this with UHC and BCBS. They probably are looking to build a medical history and inventory of current status on policyholders. If they identify any need for chronic care, which can be very costly, they then suggest a care plan that they can coordinate and use providers of their choice.

Their incentive is to reduce the costs by recommending more preventative measures and taking the initiative in setting up plans to deal with ongoing and continuing needs.

Wouldn't it make more sense to hire someone to sort through the records and see which persons need this type of special handling and go from there?

I don't consider myself a good candidate for this which is why I am surprised.

 

[MichaelB]

Wouldn't it make more sense to hire someone to sort through the records and see which persons need this type of special handling and go from there?

I don't consider myself a good candidate for this which is why I am surprised.

That's a very good question, and I don't know the answer. Maybe they feel that if it is showing up in your claims it is too late for them to make a significant difference in how you are treated. Maybe they believe that a random selection of policyholders has enough potential to make it a worthwhile effort.

I know that UHC pestered me for months to do this for my mother (I coordinate her care and deal with the insurer), and BCBS pestered me when I first took out one of their policies. I spoke at length with the person wanting to conduct the interview, and she insisted it was to enable them to help optimize my care. I believe them, but declined anyway.

 

[jgrdarrash]

I work for one of the largest health insurance companies. They all have nurses do home visits now to meet a government quality metric that all Medicare members get a yearly exam. They also check off a couple other quality metrics during the home visit like blood pressure, BMI, medication reconciliation, etc. They're also looking for socioeconomic factors like transportation availability, tripping hazards, heat, food in the fridge etc. Here in this group we might not have these issues, but many others do and lack basic access to health care. So I think it's wonderful doctor's groups and insurance companies offer this service. But do call and verify before letting anyone into your home.

 

[MisterBill]

So I know this is an old thread, but I actually had a visit from a Matrix Medical person on Friday. The nurse practitioner was very thorough; she did duplicate much of what was done in my annual physical, but they keep a record and the goal is to do this annually to look for changes. I did spend more time with her than with my doctor, and since I'm new to Medicare, I was younger than the people she usually visits for this program. Was it worth it? I had nothing better to do, and it was free, and having someone else take a look for something your physician may have missed isn't necessarily a bad thing.

We got a letter in the mail today encouraging us to sign up for the visit, which was amusing since they had called to make an appointment the week before. The letter says that they will send me a report on the visit, and also send it to my physician for their records.

For a long time, I would get calls from them that were being blocked by Nomorobo because they had them flagged as a telemarketer. They finally started calling from a different number and with Caller ID showing as my insurance provider, and it was not blocked.

Sadly, I was not offered a gift card, although I do get points towards their $200 gift card offer for doing wellness activities.

She did not look in my fridge or for tripping hazards, but maybe because i'm relatively young and self-sufficient.