Medicare Now Offers FREE Preventive Services

I am sorry for those not US citizens and those not yet on Medicare, but this notice is about time.

I had been hearing rumors, or what I thought were rumors, but today's announcement made it official. Guess I may have already missed some opportunities, but I still have much to take advantage of.

Medicare now offers many FREE preventive services and the best part - get this - they are free with no co-pay. The doctors and health care providers will be reimbursed for these services. Whether to their satisfaction is still the question.

The press release was covered in WebMD and may be found here. A printable list (PDF file) of the free services with some explanations is available here, and is several pages in length.  Addition explanations can be found on the Medicare site.

A series of radio, TV, and online ads will soon be out according to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, a "Dear Doctor" letter will be sent to all health care professionals who see Medicare patients.

Those of us with diabetes will not be able to take of advantage of the free diabetes screening, but with a doctor's or other health care provider's written order, we can take advantage of Diabetes Self-Management Training.