The Washington Post (4/3, Andrews) reports that “depression often goes undiagnosed in the elderly, who feel the stigma of mental illness more acutely than younger people and are often less likely to seek help,” but “the situation may be changing,” because “in October, Medicare began to cover annual depression screening in primary-care settings with no cost sharing for beneficiaries.” The piece notes that “the landscape should change as policymakers and insurers increasingly offer incentives to primary care physicians to transform their practices into medical homes for their patients and reward [clinicians] for better disease control rather than simply running tests and doing procedures.”
Related Links:
— “Depression often goes undiagnosed, but new Medicare benefit may change that,”Michelle Andrews, The Washington Post, April 2, 2012.