Health care decisions are an important part of family life, particularly for older family members or those with disabilities. Medicare can often be relied upon to obtain the necessary medical services for these family members. The Medicare program includes several resources that can be used to plan for and manage health care for older or disabled family members. Even non-family caregivers can rely on these resources if necessary to assist an older or disabled person with medical care.
Medicare Function
The primary function of Medicare is to provide a medical insurance program for everyone age 65 and older, although younger persons with certain disabilities or end-stage renal disease also qualify. Medicare is divided into four parts that cover different medical services. Part A provides in-patient hospital coverage. Part B provides coverage for outpatient doctor services and medical equipment. Part C can be used as an option to receive Part A and B coverage from a private health insurer. Part D covers prescription drug medication.
Medicare Enrollment
The official government website for Medicare is located at http://www.medicare.gov. This site provides comprehensive information regarding the Medicare programs and includes a variety of features that can be used to facilitate handling Medicare issues. If you have an older or disabled family member that needs to enroll in Medicare, it can be done through this website. There is also information regarding what services Medicare covers and search tools to locate doctors and medical providers in your area. Also included is a Web page, http://www.MyMedicare.gov, where a personal account can be established for any Medicare recipient.
Disclosure Authorization
An important part of the planning process to assist a family member with Medicare issues is to fill out and send to Medicare a "Medicare Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information" form. Medicare cannot disclose information to anyone other than the Medicare recipient without written authorization from the recipient to do so. The form can be filled out and submitted through the Medicare website.
Personal Health Records
The family member you are caring for can often have a significant amount of health care information, such as names and locations of doctors and medical providers, as well as records of shots, medical procedures, medications and allergy information. This information may also be scattered throughout different records in different doctor's offices and medical facilities. In order to facilitate accessing and tracking all of this health information, a personal health record can be set up on the Medicare website for any Medicare recipient. This is an electronic tool to manage health information. The Medicare recipient controls access to and use of the information and can provide access to anyone assisting with health care management and decisions.
Advance Directives
Although it may be difficult to contemplate and discuss, it is important to know who will have the legal right to make health care decisions for a family member who is no longer able to make those decisions for himself. Planning for this situation requires preparing a written advance directive conferring the legal right for someone else to make health care decisions, as well as indicating the desires of the person who is being cared for. Advance directives can be prepared in a number of forms, such as a living will or health care power of attorney. An advance directive is a helpful tool for use in conjunction with Medicare planning and decision-making.
