Written by Faith Shartzer
—
[dropcap]Under the Affordable Care Act (the health care reform law), Medicare now pays for an annual wellness visit, which includes the creation of a personalized prevention plan and detection of possible cognitive impairment. This new benefit began on January 1, 2011.[/dropcap]Who is eligible?
Any Medicare beneficiary who:
• has been receiving Medicare Part B benefits for at least 12 months, and
• has not had an initial preventive physical examination
(“Welcome to Medicare” exam) within the past 12 months.
Medicare will pay for an annual wellness visit once every 12 months. There are no deductibles or co-payments for the visit. However, you may incur a co-payment or deductible expense if additional services are performed or ordered by your doctor.
Why is this visit important?
Medicare is now interested in preventive care. This is not a usual physical exam but a wellness visit to emphasize the importance of good health to the quality of life for older adults. The focus of the visit is to review those tests or procedures that may be needed for prevention.
For example, the incidence of memory problems increases with age. We believe that early diagnosis is critical to getting the proper medical care and emotional support that is beneficial for living with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. With a simple screening a patient can be either reassured or sent for more evaluation, which might include lab work, medication review or more advanced testing such as CT or MRI.
Some changes are a normal part of aging, but some are not. Early detection may discover curable causes or may allow for treatment of the causes. There are medications that are available to help delay the progression of memory loss, and it is best to start them in the early stages.
What else is included?
Prior to your appointment, you will be asked to complete some questions about your health as part of a Health Risk Assessment. The doctor or other health care professional will review this with you and will do several screening tests. You will be asked questions about your lifestyle and health habits and your height, weight and blood pressure will be measured. Depression is also common in older people and will be evaluated as a part of your overall well-being. Home safety and fall risk will be addressed as well.
Your primary care physician can provide health advice and make a referral, as appropriate, to health education or preventive counseling services such as weight loss and exercise programs, intellectual and brain activities, fall prevention and home safety, nutrition counseling, and smoking or alcohol cessation.
[quote]Keep in mind: What is good for the heart is also good for the brain! And don’t forget to exercise! [/quote]What can you do?
Contact your primary care physician and make an appointment for your annual wellness visit. (This is not a “physical”; you must request the “wellness exam.”) If you have concerns about your memory or you have a chronic health condition (including depression), you should consider bringing a spouse, family member or close friend with you to the appointment.
Drs. Kyle Allen, Tom Powers, Paul Evans, Hoskote Nagraj and Bharati Srivastava contributed to this article.
