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Senior Health and Medications
One of the foremost senior health issues of the day is prescription medications.
Whether the issue is money or drug interaction, every senior citizen needs to
be
careful when taking medication.
For instance, if your
physician prescribes new medications for you, always ask if he
has any samples
to give you. It's not wise to pay for new medications without
knowing you can
take them and not have severe side effects. Pharmaceutical
companies supply
free samples to doctors just for these purposes. Even if getting
renewal
prescriptions for meds, ask for samples. Make sure you physician knows
all of
the medication you are taking because you want to avoid any drug
interaction reactions.
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Medicare Information
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a component of the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), administers Medicare, Medicaid,
the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the Clinical Laboratory
Improvement Amendments (CLIA). Along with the Departments of Labor and Treasury,
CMS also implements the insurance reform provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The Social Security Administration is responsible for determining Medicare eligibility and processing premium payments for the Medicare program.
The
Chief Actuary of CMS is responsible for providing accounting
information and
projections to the Medicare Board of Trustees in
order to assist them in assessing
the financial health of the program.
The Board is required by law to issue annual
reports on the financial
status of the Medicare Trust Funds, and those reports are
required to contain a statement of actuarial opinion by the Chief Actuary.
Since
the beginning of the Medicare program, CMS has contracted with private
companies to operate as intermediaries between the government and
medical
providers. These contractors are commonly already in the insurance or health care
area. Contracted processes include claims and payment processing, call
center
services, clinician enrollment, and fraud investigation.
Source: CMS
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