Clinical Diabetes 21:181-182, 2003
© American Diabetes Association ®, Inc., 2003
Third-Party Reimbursement: Now Comes the Really Difficult Part
Steven B. Leichter, MD, FACP, FACE
| The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below. |
The establishment of federally mandated benefits for diabetes supplies1 and educational services2 has opened a new era of opportunity for diabetic people. These guidelines permit diabetic Americans access to at least some supplies for home glucose monitoring, and, under specific but widely applicable clinical circumstances, access to diabetes patient education. Because the provision of patient education services has been tied by Medicare regulations to Education Recognition by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the system includes assurance of reasonable quality for these services. In addition, these precedents set by Medicare increase the likelihood that voluntary advocacy may encourage similar coverage for diabetic people from other health insurers. These advances are all significant and are discussed further in the ADA position statement, "Third-Party Reimbursement for Diabetes Care, Self-Management Education, and Supplies," which is reprinted in this issue (p. 183).
However, they come at a time of new and growing challenges to the adequate provision of care for diabetic Americans, especially older Americans. These challenges may affect the availability not only of the very benefits that have been specifically mandated by Medicare, but also of essential health care itself. Given the potential significance of . . . [Full Text of this Article]
 CiteULike  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati What's this?
Copyright © 2003 by the American Diabetes Association.
|
|
|
