Black and Hispanic patients face barriers and confusion about Medicare free annual wellness visits

Original Research 

Black and Hispanic Patients Face Barriers and Confusion About Medicare Free Annual Wellness Visits

Background: Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) are free, yearly preventive checkups available to all Medicare and Medicare Advantage enrollees. However, research shows low AWV completion in racial and ethnic minority groups. Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine sought to understand older and minority patients’ attitudes and preferences related to preventive care and AWVs.

What They Found: In focus groups with 45 Black and Hispanic Medicare patients aged 66 years or older across two Chicago primary care settings, five key themes emerged. Participants strongly valued their health and preventive care, placing high importance on long-standing relationships with their primary care physicians. However, they reported barriers, including long hold times when scheduling appointments, limited appointment availability, and transportation costs. Many were confused  about what an "Annual Wellness Visit" actually is. Many patients did not know whether they had completed one, and many confused it with in-home exams offered by Medicare Advantage insurers. Participants also raised concerns about historical racial discrimination in medicine, including suspicion that AWVs might be a lower-quality service offered only to disfavored populations.

Implications: The authors call for interventions that reach patients through multiple communication channels, use plain language such as calling AWVs "checkups," and highlight that AWVs are recommended for all Medicare enrollees, not only groups who have been historically discriminated against in medicine.

Older Black and Hispanic Patient Perceptions of Medicare Annual Wellness Visits: A Qualitative Study

Corresponding author: Corresponding author: David T. Liss, PhD, et al 

Division of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois

AllianceChicago, Chicago, Illinois

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