Medicare

While Medicare and Medicaid are distinctly different government administered health insurance programs, they do have some similarities in types of coverage. One area where Medicare and Medicaid overlap, and where there is some confusion, is when a beneficiary is admitted to a skilled nursing facility, a/k/a nursing home.  Most MediCARE beneficiaries realize that Medicare does not cover the costs of long-term custodial care (i.e. nursing home care) yet, it is not unusual to find a Medicare beneficiary in a known nursing home with costs covered by Medicare.  How can this be?      READ More Below

In May 2008 the CMMS (The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) began a pilot program limited to just South Carolina Medicare beneficiaries. The program  allows SC beneficiaries to access their personal health records through the internet.

Sounds like a great program, but are any Medicare beneficiaries using it?

The program is called MyPHRSC and the website for access to it can be found online here.

According to a Government Health IT story " The program gives thousands of Medicare beneficiaries in South Carolina access to a PHR (personal health record- ed.) populated with their hospital and physician claims information. Information on prescription drugs will not be provided, but PHR users can enter information on their prescription and over-the-counter medications."

It would seem that placing an individual Medical records in a central depository could be very helpful to patients and health care providers. For example, I recently met with a client concerning a seperate Medicare issue. He pulled out a stack of medical records that he carries with him to every doctor visit (which were frequent and among various specialists), and now, to his attorney's office. Having those records online, instead of toting them around, seems like a good idea.                                                                    READ MORE BELOW