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אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
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I am a bit confused by some of the above posts. Some of them indicate a physical presence for these wellness checks, some indicate a telephone question and answer session, unless I misunderstand.

With my hearing impairment I rarely try to answer telephone calls, and never from a number that I do not recognize, but even if I were able to answer the telephone normally, I would tell a caller like this that I do not answer any personal questions on the telephone. If you want information from me, and if you are a legitimate Medicare representative, you have my mailing address. Have a nice day.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30544 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Prince of Cats
Picture of matthew03
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quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Medicare offers a free "wellness check" once per year. Yesterday, we got a call from our clinic wanting to schedule the check. I've been on Medicare for 7 years and never got this call before. I got the check once, a few years back, and all they did was take your BP, temp, weight and talk a bit. Nothing more than what they do when you visit your physician normally
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It is about the money and government control in healthcare. Often the physician works for a hospital. The hospital is paid extra money to perform these wellness checks. CMS, the agency that runs Medicare decides these sorts of things. The latest is payment for an "Alcohol misuse screening." A bureaucrat comes up with these sorts of things, not your physician.


Insurance agent here, this is correct. I am being pushed to ask questions of my customers from a form, yes answers gets my company more compensation from .gov.


---------------------------------------
www.AppalachianConcealment.com
 
Posts: 6555 | Location: S.W. Virginia | Registered: March 18, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The 2nd guarantees the 1st
Picture of fiasconva
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I get the check once a year. It's not that invasive and no prostate check but they do want an EKG, which I usually decline. But that check is good for some people. My stepdad was starting to decline mentally and one of the ways they diagnosed it was he couldn't draw the 11:15 on the clock like they asked him to.



"Even if the world were perfect it wouldn't be." ... Yogi Berra
 
Posts: 1856 | Location: York County, VA | Registered: August 25, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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quote:
My stepdad was starting to decline mentally and one of the ways they diagnosed it was he couldn't draw the 11:15 on the clock like they asked him to.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
These cognitive tests are beyond primitive. Most millenials cannot tell time on an analog clock.
 
Posts: 17176 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
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quote:
Most millenials cannot tell time on an analog clock.
Hey Siri -- what time is it?



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30544 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Delusions of Adequacy
Picture of zoom6zoom
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"why yes, I have a bar in my shower. But I'm really low on bourbon, and the ice keeps melting"




I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm.
 
Posts: 17944 | Location: Virginia | Registered: June 02, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Baroque Bloke
Picture of Pipe Smoker
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quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
I am a bit confused by some of the above posts. Some of them indicate a physical presence for these wellness checks, some indicate a telephone question and answer session, unless I misunderstand.
<snip>

I’m surprised by that too. Medicare is bureaucratic to the max. I’d supposed that the annual wellness check had fully defined procedures.



Serious about crackers
 
Posts: 8854 | Location: San Diego | Registered: July 26, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of mcrimm
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My wife and I had our first wellness check yesterday after being on Medicare for 4+ years. The Nurse Practitioner did height, weight, BP, checked heart, lungs, reflexes and asked a few questions. We had blood work done earlier so she went over that report. Pretty simple and non-evasive. I didn't know what to expect.
Mike



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
 
Posts: 4214 | Location: Saddlebrooke, Arizona | Registered: December 24, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Non-Miscreant
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I had my mandatory annual physical on Friday. I had a crudely typed group of questions to fill out. My wife was along so I couldn't be an asshole. I do remember a question about a bar in my shower. Another if I've fallen in the last 2 years. Hell, I'm old and fall all the time. I thought it was expected. No gun questions.


Unhappy ammo seeker
 
Posts: 18385 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: February 25, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drug Dealer
Picture of Jim Shugart
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A bar in the shower is a very good idea, IMHO.




When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw
 
Posts: 15471 | Location: Virginia | Registered: July 03, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by 229DAK:
I start Medicare October 1st. Apparently you must be on Medicare for a full year before you can have the wellness check.


It may not be a full year. After being on TriCare since Nov 2010, I went on Medicare in Nov 2015 I think it was the following summer they added the wellness check to my annual physical. So every summer I schedule a physical after which the doc says "Keep up whatever you're doing, you're in darn good shape for 68."

Part of this is my filling out a form with questions about handrails, etc, questions for REAL old people. Smile

At the risk of being cynical, I think many medical offices like it when patients turn 65 and join Medicare, it becomes primary payer and a reliable source of income.
 
Posts: 15898 | Location: Eastern Iowa | Registered: May 21, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of just1tym
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quote:
Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
A bar in the shower is a very good idea, IMHO.



...Now thats funny!

OP, I have had a Medicare advantage plan now for a few years and I've actually had to call a complain to get them to stop calling me about them doing home health visits which is a bit different, they finally stopped though...or at least so far. When I started with Medicare, even after a few years I don't recall being contacted at all for a wellness check.


Regards, Will G.
 
Posts: 9660 | Location: 140 mi to Margaritaville, FL | Registered: January 02, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Imagine if Medicare for all ever passes. It would be awful. In addition, it would result in fewer doctors and hospitals would close. Doctors generally are compensated 20% less for Medicare patients than private pay and private insurance patients. Bernie's Medicare for all doesn't change the reimbursement rates. So what's going to happen 10 years after Medicare for all and doctors income has been cut by 20%. Will we have more doctors, or fewer doctors. I think we all know the answer to that.
 
Posts: 1042 | Location: New Jersey  | Registered: May 03, 2019Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of henryaz
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quote:
Originally posted by 229DAK:
I start Medicare October 1st. Apparently you must be on Medicare for a full year before you can have the wellness check.

Yes, one year for the annual wellness checks. But, they do offer an introductory wellness check when you first get on Medicare. I think it is slightly less comprehensive.



When in doubt, mumble
 
Posts: 10778 | Location: South Congress AZ | Registered: May 27, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Doctors generally are compensated 20% less for Medicare patients than private pay and private insurance patients.


It is more like 50 percent less and lots more red tape and hassle. Medicaid is even less. Many specialists limit the number of Medicare patients. If you do not participate in their Quality Assurance Programs you are penalized a certain percentage of your fee. It is just not worth it.
 
Posts: 17176 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just because you can,
doesn't mean you should
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by henryaz:
quote:
Originally posted by 229DAK:
I start Medicare October 1st. Apparently you must be on Medicare for a full year before you can have the wellness check.

Yes, one year for the annual wellness checks. But, they do offer an introductory wellness check when you first get on Medicare. I think it is slightly less comprehensive.


I had my "welcome to Medicare check" last year and they said it was more comprehensive than the follow up each year. They want to get some reference data.
They don't actually call it a physical or do a lot of tests without specific complaints so you need to ask and complain about things you want checked or they do the minimum.


___________________________
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Posts: 9456 | Location: NE GA | Registered: August 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
quote:
Doctors generally are compensated 20% less for Medicare patients than private pay and private insurance patients.


It is more like 50 percent less and lots more red tape and hassle. Medicaid is even less. Many specialists limit the number of Medicare patients. If you do not participate in their Quality Assurance Programs you are penalized a certain percentage of your fee. It is just not worth it.


It depends on the procedure but you are correct that in many cases it's a lot more than 20%. Medicare for all sounds so good to people who don't have the facts and have no idea what the consequences would be. It would be one of the biggest disasters ever to hit the country. A thousand times worse than all of the problems with Obamacare. It would over time literally cause people to die due to lack of doctors etc. Hospitals would close as well.
 
Posts: 1042 | Location: New Jersey  | Registered: May 03, 2019Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Center mass,
Armpit level...

Picture of greekfed
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I’ve often wondered why Medicare doesn’t offer a real annual physical instead of this joke?


______________________________________________________________________
There is no distinctly native American criminal class... save Congress. - Mark Twain
 
Posts: 3154 | Location: Northern Virginia | Registered: August 12, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just because you can,
doesn't mean you should
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by greekfed:
I’ve often wondered why Medicare doesn’t offer a real annual physical instead of this joke?


I had the same question. They say having a good physical is the most cost effective way so any issues will be caught earlier when most treatable and cost less to treat.
Then they won’t let you get one unless you have a specific problem.
I guess that’s what you get when you let the government design your health care.


___________________________
Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible.
 
Posts: 9456 | Location: NE GA | Registered: August 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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quote:
I guess that’s what you get when you let the government design your health care.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep. Now they want to have docs submit more prior authorizations for tests. The metrics used by CMS to evaluate care are pretty useless, kind of like the current mantra, "evidence based care."
 
Posts: 17176 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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