The loss of smell is a common issue for many seniors and is often overlooked. Yet it can have serious consequences.
Category: Aging
It Takes a Team: A Doctor With Terminal Cancer Relies on a Close-Knit Group in Her Final Days
Dr. Susan Massad created a “health team” after learning she had metastatic breast cancer. These friends and family members help her make difficult decisions and lead the most fulfilling life possible.
When the Eye on Older Patients Is a Camera
High-tech tools ease caregivers’ stress but can raise sticky privacy questions and concerns about cost.
Researcher: Medicare Advantage Plans Costing Billions More Than They Should
Some insurers pocketed ‘eye-popping’ overpayments, billing records show.
Democrats Plan to Expand Medicare Hearing Benefits. What Can Consumers Expect?
KHN answers questions for seniors about how this new benefit might work.
‘Covid Hit Us Over the Head With a Two-by-Four’: Addressing Ageism With Urgency
In light of the pandemic’s shocking death toll among seniors, organizations are trying new strategies to help older Americans get better care.
Few Acute Care Hospitals Escaped Readmissions Penalties
More than 9 in 10 general acute-care hospitals have been penalized at least once in the past decade.
Nursing Home Residents Overlooked in Scramble for Covid Antibody Treatments
A federal allocation plan meant to ensure equitable distribution of powerful monoclonal antibody treatments for high-risk patients fails to prioritize nursing home residents, a population that remains particularly vulnerable even after vaccination.
If Congress Adds Dental Coverage to Medicare, Should All Seniors Get It?
Health equity advocates see a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide a dental benefit to millions of older Americans as Congress considers expanding Medicare services. But complicating that push is a debate over how many of the more than 60 million Medicare recipients should receive dental coverage.
Democrats’ Plans to Expand Medicare Benefits Put Pinch on Advantage Plans’ Funding
As lawmakers weigh new spending provisions to cover dental, hearing and vision services for Medicare beneficiaries, a group supporting Medicare Advantage plans is airing commercials that raise concerns about the funding for those private plans.
