Category: Medicare

Delaney’s Debate Claim That ‘Medicare For All’ Will Shutter Hospitals Goes Overboard

At the first Democratic presidential primary debate, former U.S. lawmaker John Delaney outlined his opposition to “Medicare for All” by claiming it would prove fatal for hospitals. It’s really not that simple.

KHN’s ‘What The Health’: Dems Debate Health Care

Democratic presidential candidates disagreed on how to fix health care in their first debate Wednesday, although they all called for boosting insurance coverage and lowering prices. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is keeping health care in the news, too, with a new plan to make medical prices more available to the public. Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus the latest in news about bipartisan progress on catch-all legislation to address “surprise” medical bills. Plus, Rovner interviews NPR’s Jon Hamilton about the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment.

More Seniors Are Dying In Falls. Doctors Could Do More To Reduce The Risk.

Doctors should assess older adults for the risk of falling, come up with individualized plans and refer seniors to physical therapists, occupational therapists and evidence-based programs.

KHN’s ‘What The Health’: Politics Heading Into 2020: Live From Aspen!

How big an issue will health really be in the 2020 election? Will the Republicans find their political footing on the issue? In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times report from the Aspen Ideas: Health festival in Aspen, Colo. Joining them are Chris Jennings, who advised Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on health policy, and Lanhee Chen, who advised GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio.

Why MIPS is a useless mental exercise

Every day I receive all kinds of emails and other ads telling me about services offering me help to meet MIPS quality metrics. While they may be helpful, most doctors don’t see the need for such a program. It drives up costs in administering and time i…

How Many Medicare Part D Enrollees Had High Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs in 2017?

The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit has helped improve the affordability of medications for people with Medicare. Yet Part D enrollees can face relatively high out-of-pocket costs because the Part D benefit does not have a hard cap on out-of-…

Democratic Voters Want To Hear Candidates’ Views On Health, But Priorities Vary

Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents said it is very important for candidates to discuss health issues. But they are sharply divided among the goals of lowering costs, increasing access, protecting the Affordable Care Act or moving to a “Medicare for All” plan, a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported.

Social Security Error Jeopardizes Medicare Coverage For 250,000 Seniors

The problem affects private drug policies and Medicare Advantage plans that provide both medical and drug coverage and substitute for traditional government-run Medicare. It could leave plan members without coverage.

Analysis: Why Alexa’s Bedside Manner Is Bad For Health Care

Amazon’s personal assistant is gaining medical skills to provide coaching or transmit and monitor patient data. Besides the loss of the human touch, virtual medicine pursued in the name of business efficiency or profit bodes ill.

Robin Hood To Rescue Of Rural Hospitals? New Math Promised On Medicare Payments

A proposed adjustment to the wage index, used in setting a hospital’s Medicare reimbursement payments, could be a lifeline for some rural facilities.