Aetna: A brief history
Formed in the 1800s, Aetna began as a life insurance company. Over the years, the company provided insurance to the government during the First World War, created the first insurer-owned rehabilitation clinic for disabled workers in Syracuse, NY, and paid the first Medicare claim in the country in 1966. In 2003, Aetna became a leader in addressing health disparities and committed over $3 million to improve health care access for its diverse populations. The same year, Aetna was the first national, full-service health insurer to announce a health savings account (HSA) option.
Now, as a part of CVS Health (since 2018), Aetna offers health plans and benefits to consumers nationwide. Aetna provides access to participating walk-in clinics, including over 1,000 MinuteClinic® locations, at-home health support, 24/7 virtual care, and extra plan benefits such as mental health support and fitness reimbursement.
What health plans does Aetna offer?
In partnership with CVS Health, Aetna offers health benefit plans to individuals, families, students, and organizations of all sizes. Some types of plans include:
- Commercial health coverage: Aetna offers comprehensive clinical programs and health and wellness solutions to benefit employer groups, individuals, part-time and hourly workers, and labor groups.
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans for individuals and families: These plans offer benefits like preventive screenings and virtual care at zero cost and up to $100 allowance to shop over-the-counter CVS Health brand wellness products.
- Medicare plans: These include Medicare Advantage plans, Aetna prescription drug plans to pay for outpatient drugs, vaccines, and other medical supplies, and Medicare supplement plans for some costs not covered by original Medicare (Parts A and B).
- Medicaid plans: These plans offer health insurance to eligible low-income adults, children, seniors, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.
- Vision and dental plans: Includes plans like Aetna Vision Preferred, which can be bought along with dental plans like Aetna Dental Direct.
Deciding the type of health insurance you need can become complicated and exhausting. If you are new to health insurance and need help understanding insurance jargon, you can start by reading Zocdoc's Health Insurance 101 guide.
Who are primary care doctors, and what do they do?
Primary care is a patient's first point of contact with the healthcare system. It addresses various personal healthcare needs, including wellness and preventive care for people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Primary care comprises accessible health services, including the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of all diseases, including mental health conditions. Primary care focuses on a broad range of conditions, unlike other specialties, which may treat conditions of only a particular body system. For example, a cardiologist specializes in treating only conditions affecting the cardiovascular system, which consists of the heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries.
A primary care physician (PCP) is a doctor of medicine (MD) trained to diagnose and treat several illnesses or injuries in the general population. PCPs have many responsibilities. These include:
- Prescribing medications and changing or adjusting them as needed: PCPs also check drug interactions if you are taking multiple medications for different conditions.
- Treating critical conditions like asthma attacks, migraines, or UTIs (urinary tract infections) and providing wound care.
- Performing minor procedures such as skin biopsies, toenail removals, and joint injections.
- Assessing your medical and family history of illnesses as a part of preventive care.
- Offering wellness and prevention screenings for conditions like breast cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
- Managing developmental and mental health disorders like depression.
- Educating patients about necessary lifestyle changes to prevent a disease they may be at high risk of.
- Ordering or performing necessary tests like X-rays, spirometry tests, CT scans, or EKGs.
- Making sure patients and families have their vaccinations and immunizations up to date.
- Recommending a specialist if a patient requires advanced treatment or further diagnostic evaluation.
Research shows that primary care can help reduce medical costs. Finding an in-network primary care physician can help you quickly access the preventive services you need. On Zocdoc, you can search for an Aetna primary care doctor near you or in your neighborhood.
Does Aetna offer virtual primary care?
Yes, Aetna offers virtual primary care through several plans. Powered by Teladoc Primary360, Aetna Virtual Primary Care allows patients to access an extensive network of board-certified primary care doctors and get personalized support. Via Primary360, patients can speak with a doctor 24/7 for non-emergency needs, even after hours or on the weekends. Features and benefits of Primary360 include:
- Scheduling appointments from the comfort of your home via phone or video call.
- Building a long-term partnership with a primary care provider of your choice.
- Keeping track of vitals like blood pressure, scheduling routine checkups, monitoring ongoing wellness, and coordinating care, in-person or virtually.
- Messaging your care team, comprising of nurses and medical assistants, at any time and asking for unlimited support.
- Speaking with a doctor in minutes in case an immediate concern arises after hours.
- Annual checkups and preventive care
- Consulting your care team as often as needed with no additional costs.
- Prescriptions for new medications and authorization for refills (excluding opioids, narcotics, and DEA-controlled substances)
- Referrals to in-network specialists.
- Support with prevalent conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
- Mental health support and dermatology care
Virtual visits begin by asking you to answer a few questions about your health so your healthcare team can get to know you better. Patients also receive a Welcome Kit with a blood pressure monitor used to share readings with their doctor prior to visits. First consultations may last anywhere from 45-60 minutes.
Find Aetna primary care doctors near you in Manhattan, New York, NY
Zocdoc helps patients all over the United States find the best healthcare professionals that match their needs and preferences. With Zocdoc's help, you can find a primary care doctor right from the comfort of your home and book an in-person or video consultation based on your schedule and your provider's availability.
To book an appointment, all you have to do is visit the Zocdoc website and enter your condition or symptoms, location, and insurance plan. Then, browse the list of top-rated primary care physicians and filter your search results based on your preferences. You can select providers based on gender, time of the day, hospital affiliation, languages spoken, distance, and whether a provider treats children.
Zocdoc also helps patients find in-network providers. Select your insurance carrier and plan in the drop-down menu to filter the displayed list of PCPs with in-network providers. You may also directly search for Aetna primary care doctors near you.
All bookings on Zocdoc are fast, free, and secure!
Primary care in New York
According to a Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) report published in May 2022, Primary care utilization across the state of New York was affected by the population's insured status. For example, in areas with higher rates of uninsured individuals, fewer people reported visiting a doctor for a routine checkup in the previous year. Areas with a higher uninsured population are also more likely to have more residents reporting no usual source of care. They have to delay or forgo care due to costs. The number of PCPs per 10,000 was the highest in Central New York (19.3) and lowest in the Mid-Hudson region (14.9). Nearly 81.7% of patients in the Western New York region had routine checkups. The highest percentage of uninsured people were reported to be living in New York City.
At present, Aetna serves approximately 39 million people. It also provides health benefits to over 1.8 million members in the New York metropolitan area. These members have access to a network of 172 contracted hospitals and more than 56,000 healthcare providers in the New York metropolitan area, including primary care and specialist physicians.
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