Getting high-impact care with a Dual Special Needs Plan

When Cori Lempiainen, a nurse practitioner for Landmark Health — a UnitedHealthcare company in Iowa — visits members in their homes to help them with their care, she thinks of her grandmother. Growing up, Cori’s grandmother always wanted to help people and become a nurse but never got the chance. Now, Cori serves her patients with her grandmother’s dream in mind.

“With this vision of becoming a nurse and furthering my education to become a nurse practitioner, it has allowed me to actually help other people,” she said. “And when I see the relationship with my grandmother, it really inspires me to continue to help.”

In Cori’s role, that help can go beyond medical care and include health education, coordination with other providers and addressing issues like medication management.

Many of the people she helps have Dual Special Needs plans, also known as D-SNP plans. These are plans for people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. They are designed to encourage everyone involved in caring for a member – including primary care doctors, specialists, hospitals and care managers – to work together for better quality care.

This includes nurse practitioners like Cori, who meet members where they are at – in their homes.

“My passion for helping members in their home is the ability to actually see the resources that they have available to them and maximize the resources they have for the best medical outcome,” she said. “I'm able to teach them how to best manage their care to reduce hospitalizations or health care needs.”    

For D-SNP members with UnitedHealthcare plans, support for their everyday, whole health may include:

• UnitedHealthcare UCard^® to help pay for OTC products and healthy food¹
• $0 annual physical exams, $0 lab tests and $0 preventive care
• Rewards for physical activity, annual wellness visit and more²
• $0 copay for virtual medical and mental health visits³
• Plans with a $0 monthly premium to fit your budget⁴

For Cori, the home visits are also an impactful way to coordinate care.

“I feel like I've got the job done when I hear back from my patients and they've connected with their provider or their specialist and their concern has been addressed, and they feel much more at ease with their medical condition, closing that loop in their care,” she said.

This high-touch connection with members, and supporting their care, is extremely rewarding for Cori.

“I enjoy hearing each person's individual story and really getting to know them and feeling like part of their family is what I value with my position,” Cori said. “I'm most happy when I can create relationships with my patients and I want them to look forward to our next visit.”

To find out if a D-SNP plan is available in your area, check out the Plan Finder on Medicare.gov. After entering some information, the tool will show a list of private Medicare plans available in your zip code. Check to see if any of them include “Dual Special Needs Plan” in their name.

To learn more about a UnitedHealthcare D-SNP plan, visit getdual.com or call 800-560-5932/TTY 711 from 8-8 local time 7 days a week to learn more.

Be sure to enroll now through Dec. 7 for your health coverage to start by Jan. 1.