Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Becoming Eligible For Medicare Is Only First Step In The Process. Here's What Else You Should Know.
CBS News: Your Most Important Medicare Decision
To those approaching their 65th birthday, congratulations -- you've got a lot to look forward to. Among the good things about turning is 65 is that you'll be eligible for Medicare, health insurance usually becomes more affordable and you can't be denied coverage for preexisting conditions. Despite these benefits, you still face a critical fundamental decision as this landmark birthday arrives, one that will have a lasting impact for the rest of your life. It's important that you take the time now to carefully analyze your new health insurance choices. (Vernon, 4/3)
In other Medicare news —
Kaiser Health News: Medicare Advantage Plans Cleared To Go Beyond Medical Coverage — Even Groceries
Air conditioners for people with asthma, healthy groceries, rides to medical appointments and home-delivered meals may be among the new benefits added to Medicare Advantage coverage when new federal rules take effect next year. On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded how it defines the “primarily health-related” benefits that insurers are allowed to include in their Medicare Advantage policies. And insurers would include these extras on top of providing the benefits traditional Medicare offers. (Jaffe, 4/3)
Bloomberg: Medicare Official Says He Reacted To Rate Leaks With ‘Extreme Anger’
The former head of the government agency that sets Medicare reimbursement rates told a jury he reacted with "extreme concern and extreme anger" when he learned about leaks of planned changes in payments for cancer radiation treatments in 2012. "This is a criminal offense," Jonathan Blum, the former director of the Center for Medicare said in an internal email in October 2012. Blum testified Tuesday in the insider-trading case in New York against four people including David Blaszczak, a former government health agency official who’s charged with peddling details about government health-spending policy changes while working as a "political intelligence" consultant to hedge funds. (Van Voris, 4/3)
