Has the pandemic or responsibilities of life kept you from getting the preventive care you need Opens New Window? Preventive exams are crucial for good health and are the best way to detect life-threatening diseases. That’s because you can catch disease early, when they may be easier to treat.
Plus, with your Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance, many preventive services are covered in full. Just be sure to see an in-network health care provider and check your benefits before receiving care.
9 routine screenings you can't miss
Your personal doctor is the best person to help you catch up on your routine tests and screenings. Here are 9 of the most important things you shouldn’t miss:
- Annual wellness exams
- Annual dental visit
- Tests to check diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol
- Screenings for cancer, including colonoscopies and mammograms
- Counseling to help patients lose weight, quit smoking, eat healthy foods, treat depression and manage alcohol use, if needed
- Childhood and adolescent wellness visits and vaccinations
- Adult vaccinations, like shingles
- Prenatal wellness checks
- Seasonal flu shots
Childhood vaccinations and the COVID-19 pandemic
If you've delayed preventive care for either you or your child during the COVID-19 pandemic, you're not alone. Many Americans have avoided going to the doctor, which has unfortunately also meant significant drops in critical childhood vaccinations. According to data from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), 40 percent of parents say their children missed vaccinations due to COVID-19. This means that as many as nine million doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTap) and polio vaccines were missed in 2020. It's important for people to stay up-to-date on necessary vaccines to maintain community protections against serious diseases.
If your child has missed out on important preventive care and immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, make an appointment with your personal doctor to get their care back on track.
Register or log in to myWellmark®
Before your visit, check your benefits® Secure Site to understand what will and won’t be covered. Do this by registering or logging in to myWellmark. With myWellmark, your personal health care information is at your fingertips.
