Call for Comments: Should Medicare Cover Alcohol Screening and Counseling?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the federal Department for Health and Human Services (DHHS) wants to know what you think about Medicare covering alcohol screening and counseling in primary medical care.

Providing the service could mean a significant extension of prevention and early intervention services for individuals struggling with alcohol. 

The call for comments — labeled “National Coverage Analysis (NCA) Tracking Sheet for Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions in Primary Care to Reduce Alcohol Misuse (CAG-00427N)” — is open between now and March 20, 2011.

Here’s what they are looking for: 

“We would be interested in receiving any recommendations on the appropriate frequency of this service and those qualified to provide it based on documentation from the medical literature, current clinical practice guidelines, or the USPSTF recommendations.”

You can check out previous comments (follow the link and scroll down), and then post your own.