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Friday, July 30, 2004At the moment, Medicare doesn't pay for physical exams, or for most screening tests. They pay for pap smears every two years, but they don't pay for the office visit that's required to collect the pap smear. (They only pay for the pathologist's fees.) They pay for mammograms yearly, and they pay for colonoscopies, and prostate cancer screening. They don't pay for screening blood sugar levels or for cholesterol levels. All of that will change in January, when each 65 year old will get a complete physical upon entering the program. They'll pay for blood sugar tests twice a year for "high risk" patients and for cholesterol screening every five years (The whole enchilada - cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides, which is about $150 -$200). And they'll pay for a whole lot more - bone densitometries ($200), depression screening, functional ability screening, and counseling for any problems discovered during the exam. Presumably, they'll be paying for the office visit in which all of these things are being done, too. At least that's what common sense would suggest. But with Medicare, never bet on common sense. One other thing about this new benefit - the physical has to be done within the first six months of enrolling in Medicare. Most patients won't have met their Medicare deductible yet, so they'll probably end up footing more of the bill than first meets the eye. posted by Sydney on 7/30/2004 10:58:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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