Tap into the soul of preventive healthcare at your annual preventive visit
Immunizations, screenings, tests, and exams are the soul of preventive healthcare. And preventive healthcare, which starts at your annual preventive visit, can lead to a lifetime of good health.
Your annual preventive visit (often referred to as a yearly checkup) carries a lot of weight in helping:
- Prevent illness, disease, and other health problems
- Live a healthier, better-quality life
- Lower overall healthcare costs
Everyone – young children, teens, adults – should have an annual preventive visit. It generally includes routine preventive services and is covered at 100%1. Download our Preventive Healthcare Guide to keep pace with the services you and your doctor should discuss.
Preventive health updates to note
Please take note of these important updates related to RSV and cancer screenings.
- RSV – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added an RSV recommendation to the list of annual immunizations for babies, pregnant people, and people 60 years old and older. You’ll see this listed on the Preventive Healthcare Guide.
- Cancer screenings – Cancer screenings were greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 9.4 million screenings left undone2. Blue KC recommends starting or resuming an annual screening schedule, particularly for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers.
- Colorectal cancer and people under 55 – The number of people under age 55 diagnosed with colorectal cancer has doubled since 1995, according to American Cancer Society data3. Learn more about colorectal cancer in this flyer from our community partner the American Cancer Society.
Click the flyer to save for easy reference.
Schedule your preventive visit
Cancer screenings and other preventive healthcare services will be on the agenda during your annual preventive visit with your primary care provider (PCP). If you don’t have a PCP, you can find one in-network using the Find Care tool on your member portal. Visit MyBlueKC.com, select Find Care, then enter any of the following in the search bar: PCP, family medicine, internal medicine, general practice, pediatrician, or a specific provider name.
If you’re enrolled in a plan with exclusive access to Spira Care Centers, schedule your $04 preventive visit at one of nine Spira Care Centers in the Kansas City metro area.
When you schedule your appointment, be sure to:
- Ask for preventive care screenings and tests that are 100% covered by your plan.
- Ask if talking about non-preventive-care health problems during your appointment will lead to extra costs.
1When you visit an in-network doctor or facility.
2University of Kansas Medical Center, Massive negative impact of COVID-19 on cancer screenings
3American Cancer Society, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
4Services must be completed at a Spira Care Center, and you must have a Blue KC plan with Spira Care.
