Routine Health Screenings: What Preventive Care Services Are You Missing?
9 Minutes
Team Curative
Sep 20, 2023
Preventive care for your health and well-being is a way of taking control of certain aspects of your medical care. With your medical professional's help, you can better understand your overall health and personal risk factors and even receive early diagnosis and treatment for minor medical issues before they become full-blown medical crises.
Though there are preventive care health services that a medical professional helps you with, some common preventive care behaviors and activities may already be a part of your day-to-day, such as:
Eat a healthy and balanced diet.
Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight.
Get sufficient sleep.
Manage stress.
Don’t smoke and limit alcohol consumption.
Reduce exposure to environmental and workplace toxins.
Practice preventive dental hygiene.
Whether you participate in one or all of these behaviors, you are engaging in preventive care strategies. An incredibly beneficial way to step up your preventive care regime is attending a health screening relevant to your unique health needs.
Despite their importance, many people miss out on crucial routine health screenings critical to overall health and well-being. Knowing which health screenings to seek out — key information your Care Navigator will happily guide you through — helps you reach your health goals, brings numerous financial benefits, and builds a healthier tomorrow for your community.
Why is a routine health screening important?
Health screenings are an integral part of your preventive care routine. By spotting or even preventing diseases before they become serious, health screenings allow you to maintain and improve your health. As important as health screenings are to your well-being, only 8 percent of Americans undergo routine preventive care screenings. Furthermore, though four in five Americans have some form of health insurance, an estimated one in four don’t attend their annual checkup. As a result, millions of Americans miss out on critical care services that can save them a significant amount of time, money, and stress in the future.
What types of screenings should you seek?
Health screenings ensure you keep track of your health status and goals while lessening health costs in the long run. Find out which types of health screenings you should be attending to avoid unpleasant medical surprises. All adults can count on participating in a range of routine health screenings throughout their lifetimes. Here are 10 essential health tests you should schedule, along with their attendant age and frequency:
Blood pressure
Adults 18-39 should be screened at least every three to five years or yearly for those at risk. Adults over 40 should be screened yearly.
Cholesterol
Adults should get a cholesterol test at least every five years, and more frequently for those at risk of developing heart disease
Diabetes
If you’re 35 or older, you should be screened for type 2 diabetes or prediabetes every three years.
Colon cancer screening
If you’re 45 or older, you should be screened every 10 years for colon cancer.
Prostate cancer screening
Starting at age 55, men should be screened every 2-3 years for prostate cancer.
Cervical cancer screening
Starting at age 21, women should undergo a Pap test every three years to screen for cervical cancer. A vaccine is now also available for women up to age 45.
Influenza, pneumococcal, and COVID-19 vaccinations
Most adults only need the pneumococcal vaccine once. If you’re 65 or older, or if a healthcare professional has determined you are at risk, you should get the shot at least every 5 years. Everyone aged six months and older should get a flu vaccine every year. Everyone aged six years and older should get 1 updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to be considered up-to-date. Certain people may need additional doses; make sure you speak to your doctor about which dose is right for you.
Bone density test
Starting at age 65, women should be screened for osteoporosis or low bone density every year.
Mammogram
Starting at age 50, women should have a mammogram every one to two years to screen for breast cancer. Women with risk factors should discuss screening earlier.
Vision and hearing screenings
Everyone should have a complete eye exam every year or two and a hearing test every year.
Barriers to preventive care access that Curative helps you overcome
As a Curative member, you are never alone in figuring out how and where to find preventive care services, including health screenings. Curative’s plan helps you overcome traditional barriers to care, such as:
Lack of access
Coverage confusion
Fear of medical debt
Considering only 15 out of 50 states have above-average preventive care metrics, accessing the screenings you need can be more difficult than it should be. The lack of physicians in many areas, particularly in rural communities, makes it difficult to find healthcare providers who offer preventive care services like health screening. For example, Texas has had the most rural hospital closures of any state in the country. Since 2010, 113 rural hospitals in the US have closed—18 percent of which were in Texas. As a result, patients seeking care have to travel further than they used to and face long wait times due to low provider capacity.
Even if a patient knows where to find the care they need, confusion over which services are covered under their health plan may stop them in their tracks. This confusion causes many patients to face surprise medical bills or unreasonable out-of-pocket costs that are a significant—though avoidable—financial burden.
Overcoming these barriers to access is a central component of your health plan with Curative. Services currently under your plan, like 24/7 365 virtual appointments available in 10 minutes or less, bring high-quality healthcare directly to you with $0 copays—no need to travel, and no long wait times. If you want to see a physician in person, you still don’t need to worry about costs—your health plan allows you to visit in-network providers with $0 copays or out-of-pocket costs.
Your personal Care Navigator is your go-to contact at Curative for anything and everything related to your health plan coverage. Whether you have questions about how to access covered preventive care services, need help scheduling a doctor’s appointment, or to discuss your health goals, your Care Navigator is ready to help.
As an innovative health insurance company that prioritizes transparency, we want you to know how to use your health plan and love using it. Engaging in preventive care practices, like routine health screenings, benefits you, your community, and the healthcare system as a whole in numerous ways. As a Curative member, you can access these pivotal services whenever you’re ready—we’re here to help.
About Curative
Curative wants people to love using their health benefits. Our health plan actually delivers better health through affordability, engagement, and simplicity.
No copays. No deductibles. No...really. Curative is changing the way we view health insurance.
**In order to qualify, members must complete a Baseline Visit within the first 120 days of the plan effective date.
Explore the plentiful preventive care services—like health screening—your Curative plan covers by visiting us here.
NOT MEDICAL ADVICE: The information provided on the blog is not a substitute for the advice of a personal physician or other qualified health care professional and does not constitute a diagnosis or professional treatment recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health care professional with any questions regarding medical symptoms or a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Site. Curative hereby disclaims any and all liability to any party for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of the content, which is provided as is, and without warranties
To see all disclaimers, please view here.
References:
Batarseh FA, Ghassib I, Chong DS, Su PH. Preventive healthcare policies in the US: solutions for disease management using Big Data Analytics. J Big Data. 2020;7(1):38. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7309216/
Ettinger, Z. (18 Mar 2020). 14 statistics you probably didn’t know about preventive healthcare in the United States. Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-statistics-preventative-health-care-united-states?r=US&IR=T#though-four-in-five-americans-have-health-insurance-one-in-four-didnt-get-a-routine-checkup-last-year-1
Golden, R. (11 February 2021). Workers skipped preventative healthcare in 2020. How should employers respond? HR Drive. https://www.hrdive.com/news/workers-skipped-preventative-healthcare-in-2020-how-should-employers-respo/594908/
Mao, S. (11 May 2022). Health screenings by age, and why they’re not worth skipping. The Ohio State University. https://health.osu.edu/wellness/prevention/health-screenings-by-age
Top 10 health screenings. Tenet Health. Last accessed 25 June 2023. https://www.tenethealth.com/healthy-living/corporate-content/top-10-health-screenings
Prostate cancer: Age-specific screening guidelines. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Last accessed 25 June 2023. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-age-specific-screening-guidelines
Screening tests common for diseases. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Last Accessed 25 June 2023. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/screening-tests-for-common-diseases
Baseline hearing test. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Last accessed 25 June 2023. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/hearing-loss/baseline-hearing-test
How often should I have an eye exam? Prevent Blindness. Last accessed 25 June 2023. https://preventblindness.org/how-often-should-i-have-an-eye-exam/
For clinicians: Vaccination summary. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last updated 31 August 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vax-summary.htm
Palmer, J. (3 Oct 2018). Study: Most adults don’t receive preventive care. Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare. https://www.psqh.com/analysis/study-most-adults-dont-receive-preventive-care/
Stay up to day with vaccines. CDC. Last updated 7 June 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html
