Debbie Perlman Blog

For value-based care to provide truly holistic, coordinated care to patients, it must incorporate behavioral health treatment. This can result in improving the quality of health care for your employees, especially those with chronic medical conditions. Despite the benefits of integrating behavioral health treatment into value-based care, physical and behavioral medicine too often remain siloed in our health care systems — even under value-based care arrangements. The Need for Inclusive Treatment Comprehensive primary care has begun to seek ways to integrate behavioral health treatment to improve outcomes and cost-effectiveness. Behavioral health conditions frequently co-occur with chronic diseases, but these symptoms may be overlooked. Depression symptoms, for example, may be masked by other medical conditions. Patients with diabetes often receive mental health education along with diabetes education, since anxiety and depression are frequently associated with this...

If doctors won’t help fix the problems of health care, they shouldn’t be outraged when outsiders try to do it for them. On Jan. 1, 2020, a new Medicare policy is scheduled to go into effect that will eventually require doctors to use a computer algorithm to vet imaging tests to determine “appropriateness.” If the tests, such as CT scans and M.R.I.s, do not meet certain “appropriate-use criteria,” Medicare may not reimburse the cost. Intended to reduce unnecessary imaging, the policy may penalize doctors who don’t comply by requiring them to get “prior authorization” before ordering imaging tests in the future — in other words, to follow another regulation. Predictably, many doctors want the policy reversed or at least delayed so that they can come up with an alternative. They say that there is little evidence that the regulation will achieve its intended aim. They have concerns about how the computer algorithm will interact with existing electronic medical ...

In spite of increased awareness, suicide continues to be a major public health problem in the United States, and around the world. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S., where the rate is higher than at any point since World War II. The majority of suicides in the U.S. are among working age adults. Business leaders are uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution to addressing this crisis. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention urges business leaders to be “visible, vocal and visionary” in directing suicide prevention efforts. Communication and connection are critical in combatting suicide and mental illness—and both are at the top of any business leader’s job description. By putting themselves upfront in their company’s mental health initiatives, business leaders can go a long way toward setting the tone for a productive conversation about suicide prevention. Working age suicides have increased 34% in the U.S. in the yea...

Scams trying to steal your Social Security information are on the rise. More than 35,000 people reported Social Security imposter scams to the Federal Trade Commission in 2018, up from 3,200 in 2017. As a result of this crime, consumers lost more than $10 million in 2018. If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from the Social Security Administration, it's wise to be wary. The phone call may appear to be from the government, but thieves are behind the fraud and will ask for personal information or insist you send money. To avoid being a victim of the suspended Social Security number scam, it's important to: Understand what Social Security fraud involves. Recognize red flags from callers. Report any suspicious activity. Take steps to protect your finances. Follow along to see how this scam unfolds and what steps to take if you receive a suspicious call. Know How the Suspended Social Security Number Scam Works The suspended Social Se...

When President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law on July 30, 1965, he declared, “No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine” (Johnson, 1965). On that promise, and much more, Medicare has delivered (Oberlander and Marmor, 2015). Over the past fifty years, Medicare has provided tens of millions of older Americans with a crucial measure of financial security and access to medical care. Moreover, since 1972, Medicare has provided coverage to persons with permanent disabilities and end-stage renal disease. Medicare is a program that almost all American families come to rely on. At the same time, so too has the medical industry come to rely on Medicare. As the single largest purchaser of medical services in the United States, Medicare is an important source of income for hospitals, physicians, home health agencies, and other medical care providers. Changes made in Medicare policy reverberate through American medical care. Medicare spending cu...

In July 2018, Better Medicare Alliance, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, published research compiled by Avalere Health studying the treatment outcomes of chronic condition sufferers who have Original Medicare and compared them with a similar population of people who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage. The results could potentially affect how Medicare beneficiaries decide to receive their health coverage. Original Medicare Vs. Medicare Advantage Plans This particular study compared the two primary coverage options Medicare beneficiaries can typically consider. One option is to enroll in Medicare Part A and/or Part B (often called Original Medicare), which is the federally funded health insurance program founded in 1965. The other option is to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan (full disclosure: one of my companies offers Medicare Advantage plans), which is sold by private insurance companies and offers the same benefits offered by Medicare Part A and Part B under one ...

Health insurance is one of the most important investments we ever make. Illnesses, injuries, and other medical setbacks can be astronomically expensive if hospital visits, surgery, or other serious measures are required; maintaining health coverage is the only way to ensure we aren’t stuck covering these emergency medical costs out-of-pocket. Still, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 47 million non-elderly Americans ― roughly 15% of the country’s population ― were uninsured in 2012. These individuals paid approximately one-third of their medical expenses out-of-pocket, and faced higher bills than those with health coverage. According to a 2013 article from CNBC, more than 2 million U.S. residents were affected by bankruptcies stemming from high medical bills that year. Becker Hospital CFO notes that hospital stays alone generated costs of $387.3 billion in 2011, which averaged to roughly $10,000 per visit. In order to obtain the proper level of coverage, you must...

Term life insurance is among the devices that people should consider when they want to provide an immediate estate for loved onces after their death. Although term insurance is not always the most effective type of life insurance for all of a client’s death benefit needs, it can be useful in many circumstances. Since term insurance is not just one product, but rather many variations on a general theme, different types of term insurance are indicated for different client needs. Keep in mind, term insurance, more than any other type of insurance, is pure death protection with little or no ancillary or lifetime benefits. Therefore, the two overriding considerations in the use of term insurance, regardless of the specific application, are Will death protection alone meet the need? Will the coverage last as long as the need? In short, with term life insurance — as with any other decision about appropriate coverage — the product must match the problem. Term Life Insurance Ad...