Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Law Requires Medicare To Cover Dementia Evaluation
But an influential panel of experts says there isn’t enough evidence to recommend screening tests for the public.
Medicare Seeks To Stop Overpayments For Hospice Patients’ Drugs
Studies have found that the government often pays insurance plans and hospice organizations for the same prescriptions, so Medicare is directing insurers to confirm that prescriptions are not covered by hospice before paying for them.
Waiting And Waiting On The Nursing Home Inspector
Mary Chiu complained in 2011 that her elderly mother suffered terribly from poor care in a nursing home. Hers is among hundreds of cases that remain unresolved due to a backlog of investigations in Los Angeles County.
L.A. County Nursing Home Inspections Chief Reassigned
An audit that followed a KHN report revealed an alarming backlog of more than 3,000 open inspections at nursing homes. The supervisor in charge of the inspections has been replaced and moved to a ‘special assignment.’
Alzheimer’s Disease Support Model Could Save Minn. Millions
As states eye strategies to control the costs of caring for Alzheimer’s patients, a New York model is drawing interest, and findings from a study of Minnesota’s effort to replicate it shows it could lead to significant savings and improved services. The New York University Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI) program offers caregivers six sessions of individual […]
Medicare Records Provide Tantalizing New Details Of Payments To Doctors
But physicians and database experts caution that the information can be easily misconstrued or misunderstood.
Obama Administration Retreats On Private Medicare Rate Cuts
But insurers still contest the claim that rates will rise slightly after arriving at their own calculations of the originally proposed cuts.
Decoding The High-Stakes Debate Over Medicare Advantage Cuts
In high-visibility ad campaigns, insurers maintain that reduced payment rates, which are expected to be announced Monday, will do real harm. What should beneficiaries expect?
Los Angeles County Audit Finds Backlog Of Nursing Home Complaints
The Los Angeles County Auditor/Controller determined that there were more than 3,000 open investigations, including 945 that have been open for more than two years.
Top Boston Hospital Begins To Tackle Readmissions Problem
One Boston hospital uses a Medicare fine, soul searching, and a plan for follow-up to reduce its alarming readmissions rate.
Cholesterol Guidelines Could Mean Statins For Half Of Adults Over 40
This story was produced in collaboration with When sweeping new advice on preventing heart attacks and strokes came out last November, it wasn’t clear how many more Americans should be taking daily statin pills to lower their risk. A new analysis provides an answer: a whole lot. Nearly 13 million more, to be precise. If the […]
Rep. Ryan Quizzes Sebelius On Increased Savings Estimate From IPAB
The panel hasn’t had a meeting and no one’s even been nominated for it yet, but the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request says the health law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as IPAB, could save the government triple what officials estimated last year. On Wednesday, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., asked Department of Health and […]
UCLA Memory Program Offers ‘Gym For Your Brain’
Games, stories, tai chi and dancing help patients — and caregivers — cope with memory loss
Medicare Officials Back Away From Changes To Prescription Drug Plan
Facing heavy bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill as well as from patient groups, businesses, insurers and others, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday it did not plan to move ahead “at this time” with several proposed changes to the Medicare prescription drug program. The draft regulation, which had been released in January, would have wide-ranging […]
IG Report Findings Could Strengthen Nursing Home Inspections
Nursing home oversight may be moving toward more effective ways to detect poor care.
L.A. County Health Officials Grilled Over Nursing Home Inspections
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously ordered an audit Tuesday of how the public health department oversees nursing homes.
L.A. County Officials Told Inspectors To Cut Short Nursing Home Probes
They say they were trying to help clear a California backlog of 9,000 cases. Elder care advocate calls the move “unconscionable.”
Three Key Changes Proposed For Medicare Part D
Among the elements of the proposal that consumers might notice are changes in what drugs will be “protected” so that they are more readily available to seniors, how many plans are offered and what pharmacies will be offering the best deals.
Administration Faces Opposition To Changes In Medicare Prescription Drug Program
Officials say proposed alterations would help seniors and save money but some patient groups and the drug industry are raising concerns.
Rep. John Dingell, Long-Time Champion Of Health Legislation, Will Not Seek Re-Election
Another health care legend is retiring on Capitol Hill. Rep. John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who was a key player in many health care battles in Congress, including enactment of the 2010 health care law and his push for a “Patient’s Bill of Rights” in the late 1990s and early 2000s, said Monday he […]
