As the White House and Congress prepare for negotiations over the budget and U.S. debt ceiling, there has been a lot of talk about how to pay for senior’s health care and the future of Medicare. It seems like a great place to start is with steps policymakers can take that can both save money… Continue reading To Fix Medicare Spending, Prevent Fractures Among Aging Americans
Tag: Medicare
What You Need to Know about Geriatric Care Managers
If you’re suddenly faced with the need to care for an aging loved one, the decisions you’re required to make will seem overwhelming. In cases like these, a good geriatric care manager, usually a licensed nurse or social worker who specializes in geriatrics, may help. Although they are not covered by Medicare, a geriatric care… Continue reading What You Need to Know about Geriatric Care Managers
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
Medicare Patients Are Less Likely to Die in a Hospital
Where are Medicare patients most likely to die? A 2018 study done by Joan M. Teno, M.D., M.S., Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, and coauthors found that from 2000 to 2015 there was a decline in deaths in an acute-care hospital and an increase in deaths in a home or other community setting such… Continue reading Medicare Patients Are Less Likely to Die in a Hospital
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
What You Must Know About Hospital “Observation Status”
In a hypothetical scenario, let’s say you break a hip. A call to 911 gets an ambulance to your door and you’re whisked off to the Emergency Room of your nearest hospital. Once there, you are given papers to sign. You do so without reading them closely. You end up in a hospital bed. What… Continue reading What You Must Know About Hospital “Observation Status”
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
Despite Potential for More Money, Doctors Aren’t Uniformly Adopting Medicare Wellness Visits
Medical practices that adopted the annual Medicare “wellness visit” for patients saw increased revenue, and their patients were also likelier to stay with them for any given three-year period, researchers say. But other medical offices, most of which care for the underserved, had lower rates of adopting the practice of the wellness visit – a… Continue reading Despite Potential for More Money, Doctors Aren’t Uniformly Adopting Medicare Wellness Visits
Medicare Has Few Limits on Opioid Prescriptions
Although federal guidelines recommend restrictions of prescription opioids to Medicare patients, Medicare plans place few restrictions on the coverage of prescription opioids, according to new research from Yale. The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The risk of opioid overdoses rises when individuals are prescribed opiates at high dosages. While the Centers… Continue reading Medicare Has Few Limits on Opioid Prescriptions
How To Beat The Healthcare Odds In These Uncertain Times
A recent Gallup poll revealed that Americans list healthcare as tied for the nation’s No. 1 problem, right along with dissatisfaction with government. Each of those was named by 18 percent of the people polled, far outdistancing any other worry. Maybe it’s no coincidence that those two issues cause equal amounts of anxiety among Americans.… Continue reading How To Beat The Healthcare Odds In These Uncertain Times
Medicare Underestimates Heart Attack Mortality Rates
A 2017 analysis of Medicare’s Hospital Compare portal shows the statistical methodology used to rate and compare hospitals underestimates mortality rates of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) at small hospitals. The research was published in in the Journal of the American Statistical Association. A release from the association notes that Hospital Compare collects data from Medicare… Continue reading Medicare Underestimates Heart Attack Mortality Rates
How Medicare Could Save Costs
Current trends in medical billing will lead to Medicare overpaying private insurance programs by hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a new study. The conclusion was reached by researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. The study was published in the journal Health Affairs. Medicare pays more money to the… Continue reading How Medicare Could Save Costs
The High Cost of “Surprise” Medical Bills
The average anesthesiologist, emergency physician, pathologist and radiologist charge more than four times what Medicare pays for similar services, often leaving privately insured consumers stuck with bills that are much higher than they anticipated, new research suggests. The problem is that most patients do not actually choose these doctors with the highest markups, allowing them… Continue reading The High Cost of “Surprise” Medical Bills
Managing Medication Expenses
Here, some tips from the experts at SeniorHealth, a division of the National Institutes of Health, on how to save some money on medication: Medicines can cost a lot. If you have a drug plan through your insurance, you can probably save money by ordering yours from them rather than at your neighborhood pharmacy. Medicare… Continue reading Managing Medication Expenses
The Medicare-Related Cost of A Cancer Diagnosis
Medicare beneficiaries who don’t have cancer and develop cancer will be faced with out-of-pocket expenses that average one quarter of their income and could reach as high as 63 percent, according to a study published in JAMA Oncology. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center… Continue reading The Medicare-Related Cost of A Cancer Diagnosis
Vocabulary Lesson: Medicare Part D
We’re in the midst of the Medicare enrollment period, and the terms involved can prove overwhelming and confusion, especially if you’re applying for the first time. Here, from the SeniorHealth division of the National Institutes of Health, is a list of terms relating to Medicare prescription drug plans (Part D). Co-insurance This is an amount… Continue reading Vocabulary Lesson: Medicare Part D
Avoiding Costly Medicare Mistakes
It’s decision time for the 55 million Americans covered by Medicare. Open enrollment, when people can enroll in Medicare or make changes to their plans, runs every year from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. But anyone who thinks that signing up for the medical plan for seniors is simple could be in for a rude… Continue reading Avoiding Costly Medicare Mistakes