Medicare & Aging
Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
By Fred Schulte
Genetic testing firms declare bankruptcy and wipe out debt to the federal government.
Doing More Harm Than Good? Epidemic of Screening Burdens Nation’s Older Patients
By Liz Szabo
Patients are often aggressively screened for cancer, even if they won’t live long enough to benefit.
Good Friends Might Be Your Best Brain Booster As You Age
By Judith Graham
SuperAgers, men and women over age 80 with extraordinary memories, share a commitment to sustaining friendships.
Experts Tell Congress How To Cut Drug Prices. We Give You Some Odds.
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Some of the nation’s most influential scientists recommend eight steps to lower drug prices. KHN takes the political temperature and tells you the chances of Congress acting on them.
An Overlooked Epidemic: Older Americans Taking Too Many Unneeded Drugs
By Sandra G. Boodman
Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. But some doctors are trying to teach others about “deprescribing” or systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.
Retirement’s Revolving Door: Why Some Workers Can’t Call It Quits
By Bruce Horovitz
Baby boomers are deciding to return to the workplace because they miss the challenges, the accomplishments — and, most important, the people.
Health Risks To Farmworkers Increase As Workforce Ages
By Sarah Varney
Harvesting U.S. crops has been left to an aging population of farmworkers whose health has suffered from decades of hard labor. Older workers have a greater chance of getting injured and of developing chronic illnesses.
Pace Of U.S. Health Spending Slows In 2016
By Phil Galewitz
Dramatic increases in spending that came with the influx of newly insured consumers in 2014 and 2015 appear to be moderating.
Liquid Gold: Pain Doctors Soak Up Profits By Screening Urine For Drugs
By Fred Schulte and Elizabeth Lucas and Heidi de Marco
With the nation's opioid crisis, urine testing has become a booming business and is especially lucrative for doctors who operate their own labs, a Kaiser Health News investigation finds. And dozens of practitioners have earned "the lion’s share" of their Medicare income exclusively from urine drug screens.
Straight From The Patient’s Mouth: Videos Can Clearly State Your End-Of-Life Wishes
By Judith Graham
Video advance directives enable people to speak directly to their families and physicians about their wishes for end-of-life care.
Doctors Make Big Money Testing Urine For Drugs, Then Ignore Abnormal Results
By Fred Schulte
Medicare and insurers struggle to oversee a booming business in testing urine samples. In some cases, pain doctors’ lack of follow-through can turn fatal.
Heated And Deep-Pocketed Battle Erupts Over 340B Drug Discount Program
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Drugmakers, hospitals and lawmakers are taking sides in a showdown over a discount program that covers drug purchases at some hospitals.
Shingles: Don’t Let It Get You The Way It Got Me
By Bruce Horovitz
The painful condition caused by the chickenpox virus will strike 1 in 3 Americans during their lifetimes — most between ages 60 and 70, but those in their 50s have reason to arm themselves.
How Older Patients Can Dodge Pitfalls Entrenched In Health Care System
By Judith Graham
What being old and sick in America can mean — and ways to navigate the often treacherous journey through the system.
Medicare Seeks Comment On Ways To Cut Costs Of Part D Drugs
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Medicare is examining how rebates and discounts could be shared in some way with Part D beneficiaries to reduce their out-of-pocket costs.
Pressure Builds To Cut Medicare Patients In On Prescription Deals
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Medicare officials have been discussing a rule change that would give beneficiaries a share of the secretive fees and discounts that are negotiated for prescription drugs.
For Active Seniors, Cohousing Offers A Cozier Alternative To Downsizing
By Sharon Jayson and Heidi de Marco
Far from a commune or coop, these planned villages are no less about cooperation and community.
Hospice Workers Who Care For The Dying Don’t Plan Ahead Themselves
By JoNel Aleccia
Fewer than half of health care workers at a nonprofit Florida hospice had completed advance directives for end-of-life care.
Learning To Advance The Positives Of Aging
By Judith Graham
Stereotypes often undermine older adults, eroding their confidence, elevating their stress and harming their health.
‘No One Is Coming’: Hospice Patients Abandoned At Death’s Door
By JoNel Aleccia and Melissa Bailey and Heidi de Marco
U.S. hospice agencies promise to be available around-the-clock to help patients dying in their homes. But a Kaiser Health News investigation shows that in an alarming number of cases, that promise is broken.