Compass Medical Group Closes, Approval of Alzheimer's Drugs
The Unvarnished Truth is an occasional newsletter that covers news and topics of interest for those of us approaching or enrolled in Medicare. I will cover two important items in this edition:
My first item is Compass Medical Group, which announced last Wednesday night that it would be closing its practices, effective immediately.
Compass is a large physician group with six offices in Southeast Massachusetts. They have 80 physicians and serve 70,000 patients.
Compass urged patients to go to their nearest local emergency room or urgent care center for medical attention in the interim.
First, if you are a patient of Compass Medical Group, please contact me and I will make very effort to assist in finding a new doctor. We are in a challenging situation in our area with a shortage of primary care physicians; however, there are a number of tools available to assist in identifying physicians who are accepting new patients.
Second, patients should not be treated this way, and we should all hope that state officials hold the leadership of Compass Medical accountable for actions that have endangered the health of their patients.
Finally, physicians have been organizing into large groups for quite some time, in order to have more bargaining power with mega-corporations, such as hospital systems and insurers. The bad news is that the mega-corportions have been acquiring and absorbing large physician practices. In this case, a medium sized physician practice lost a large lawsuit brought by a large hospital system, and the "brain trust" of the physician practice decided they were better off walking away from the debt and their patients. I believe in separation between the physician groups, and the mega-corporations that want to control them, such as hospital systems and insurers. I also believe there is a role for the Federal government in monitoring and preventing monopolistic behavior in the health care landscape.
My second item is some important news for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and their families.
Medicare announced on June 1 how people can get drugs that may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease covered by Medicare.
If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants traditional approval, then Medicare will cover it in appropriate settings. “Alzheimer’s disease takes a toll on not just the people suffering from the disease but also on their loved ones and caregivers in a way that almost no other illness does," announced Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. Access the full CMS announcement through this link.
Millions of seniors and their families already suffer from this disease, and all of us Boomers are entering the years when people are typically afflicted. The development of new drugs and Medicare coverage to make them affordable really is a big deal.
Reminder - for those of you enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, don't forget about your OTC benefit! These plans usually offer $50 - $75 per quarter for over the counter (OTC) items not covered by your drug benefit. Each quarter is "use it or lose it" so don't leave this money on the table! Call me if you need assistance in using this benefit.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about how these issues affect your coverage, don't hesitate to call me at 978-447-3737.
Yours in good health,
Jeff
Jeffrey W. Werner
OTL Benefits