The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced Monday that Medicare will pay for annual screenings for alcohol misuse and depression. These services have been added to the covered preventative medicine services at no cost to the recipient. “Preventive services bring relief to Medicare beneficiaries for whom preventive care means early identification of disease and greater opportunity for treatment and recovery,” CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, said in a press release. “It’s just as important for our elderly beneficiaries to enjoy access to preventive services as it is for any American.”
The policy includes in office screening annually by your primary care physician. If a challenge is uncovered Medicare will now pay for four “brief, face to face” behavioral health counseling sessions. Depression screening guidelines have been set as well which also include appropriate treatment options.
