Counties in states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had fewer deaths annually from heart disease compared to areas that did not expand Medicaid, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2019. Medicaid expansion under the ACA, which began in… Continue reading Affordable Health Care Coverage and Heart Disease
Tag: Medicaid
Information for Caregivers: Where to Find Low-Cost Dental Care
As someone who cares for an older adult, you know the importance of brushing and flossing for maintaining oral health. In addition to having a good oral hygiene routine, the person you help should see a dentist for regular check-ups and any necessary dental treatment. If he or she cannot afford to visit the dentist,… Continue reading Information for Caregivers: Where to Find Low-Cost Dental Care
Many Insurers Deny Coverage for Highly Effective Hep C Drugs
Drugs that can cure chronic hepatitis C infection in approximately 95 percent of patients first became available in the U.S. in 2014. But both public and private insurers continue to deny coverage for these costly drugs at high rates nationwide, despite efforts to remove treatment restrictions, according to a new study published in Open Forum… Continue reading Many Insurers Deny Coverage for Highly Effective Hep C Drugs
How to Fight Medical ID Theft
Having your records stolen in a healthcare data breach can be a prescription for financial disaster. If scam artists break into healthcare networks and grab your medical information, they can impersonate you to get medical services, use your data to open credit accounts, break into your bank accounts, obtain drugs illegally, and even blackmail you… Continue reading How to Fight Medical ID Theft
Health Care: Starting A Conversation Between Millennials and Baby Boomers
“When I was your age” is a phrase that Millennials say they’ve grown tired of hearing from Boomers on almost every subject, including how our health care system has changed over the years. Millennials didn’t live the before and after of many health care measures, so they may think it’s no big deal that we… Continue reading Health Care: Starting A Conversation Between Millennials and Baby Boomers
4 Reasons It’s Urgent to Understand the Cost of Growing Old
Many young, healthy Americans may not realize that they share something troubling in common with each other. There’s a good chance they could spend the later years of their lives in long-term care, a situation that might drain their finances and leave them dependent on the government to survive. Families go broke quickly trying to… Continue reading 4 Reasons It’s Urgent to Understand the Cost of Growing Old
Inflated Charges in Medicare & Medicaid Payment Patterns Vary
In 2016, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles Health Sciences found inflated charges and significant variation in patterns of payments for surgical care by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). That charges were inflated compared with payments disproportionately affects the underinsured and uninsured, who often must pay for their care out… Continue reading Inflated Charges in Medicare & Medicaid Payment Patterns Vary
Hospitals Unfairly Penalized for Good Care
A study by Johns Hopkins researchers indicates that hospitals suffer improper financial penalties because of the number of patients who suffer blood clots in the lung or leg. The researchers said the penalties did not take into account clots that occurred despite consistent use of the best preventive therapies. “We have a big problem with… Continue reading Hospitals Unfairly Penalized for Good Care
Too Many Patients Are Delaying Hospice Care
Although hospice can benefit terminally ill patients over a period of time, one in six cancer patients enroll it in only during the last three days of life, according to a new study. The findings, by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, also revealed a profile of the kind of patient… Continue reading Too Many Patients Are Delaying Hospice Care