Residents could find information on plans and health services
By JAN HOGAN
VIEW STAFF WRITER
SPECIAL TO VIEWThe Medicare bus tour recently stopped in the Las Vegas Valley to spread the message that preventative health is Medicare?s new focus. Medicare representatives presented information about prescription drug coverage, Medicare Medical Savings Account plans and more.
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The leading causes of death in the United States are heart disease, cancer and stroke, according to National Vital Statistics. Twenty percent of deaths are the results of tobacco use. And just under 20 percent are from poor diet and lack of exercise.
"It's the super size me-phenomenon," said Dr. Bradley Perkins with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "People don't walk anywhere these days. They drive."
To help combat such trends, a Medicare bus tour dubbed A Healthier U.S. Starts Here came to northwest Las Vegas the last week of August. The stop sought to spread the message that preventative health care is Medicare's new focus. The tour already has traveled 75,000 miles across the country.
In other states, the tour participated in community fairs, met with partnering organizations and senior centers to encourage eligible seniors to sign up for Medicare Part D benefits, although any discussion of Part D was ancillary to its central purpose.
In Las Vegas, the stop at Sierra Health Services, 2716 N. Tenaya Way, involved presenting information to about 125 representatives from health care companies, senior day care centers, and agencies and organizations whose clients have Medicare coverage.
"Several years ago, the centers for Medicare and Medicaid wanted to host an event and needed a venue and someone directed them to me," said Jenny DesVaux Oakes, assistant vice president of community relations for Sierra Health Services. "It's been so successful, this is our third one."
The local event included a seminar that looked at the shift in how Medicare better addresses people's needs, especially those of seniors, while still remaining cost effective.
Highlights and changes in Medicare 2007 include what beneficiaries pay for Medicare; the part B premiums for filing an individual tax return; Medicare Advantage Plans information; Medicare prescription drug plans; limits to outpatient physical and occupational therapy, as well as speech-language pathology; and the new Medicare Medical Savings Account Plans. Specifics can be found at www.medicare.gov.
"I think the way we handle health care in this country is bass akwards," said U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "I think we should be front loading services."
She spoke of her own detection of osteoporosis.
"It was a $200 test ... for some people in my constituency, it might as well be $2 million," Berkley said.
Nevada has the highest rate of diabetes in the country, according to the American Diabetes Association. The organization reports that 196,000 Nevadans die each year because of the disease. On average, $100,000 is spent on someone hospitalized with diabetes-related complications.
"What a shame," said Dr. Charlotte Yeh, acting regional administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Region 9. "We need to shift that dynamic from paying for it afterward by paying for (preventative measures) first."
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