Medicare & Aging: Feb. 17, 2022
Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens of Hospitals It Also Gives Five Stars
Jordan Rau
Among the 764 hospitals hit with a 1% reduction in Medicare payments this year for having high numbers of patient infections and avoidable complications are more than three dozen that Medicare also ranks as among the best in the country.
Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized by Medicare?
Jordan Rau
Each year, Medicare punishes hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and high rates of infections and patient injuries. Check out which hospitals have been penalized.
Inside the Tactical Tug of War Over the Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug
Arthur Allen
An epic battle is playing out behind the scenes over whether the government should pay for Aduhelm, an FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drug that scientists say has not been proven to work.
Medicare Patients Win the Right to Appeal Gap in Nursing Home Coverage
Susan Jaffe
If federal officials accept a court’s decision, some patients will get a chance to seek refunds for their nursing home and other expenses.
Justices Block Broad Worker Vaccine Requirement, Allow Health Worker Mandate to Proceed
Julie Rovner
The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal rule requiring larger businesses to mandate employees be vaccinated or wear masks and undergo weekly testing. At the same time, however, it allowed a federal order that health care workers be vaccinated.
Pandemic-Fueled Shortages of Home Health Workers Strand Patients Without Necessary Care
Judith Graham
Home health and hospice agencies are experiencing extreme worker shortages, which means they can’t provide services to all the patients seeking care.
At Nursing Homes, Long Waits for Results Render Covid Tests ‘Useless’
Rachana Pradhan
As omicron surges, more nursing homes are facing a double whammy: Lab tests are taking too long, and fast antigen tests are in short supply.
In California Nursing Homes, Omicron Is Bad, but So Is the Isolation
Linda Marsa
Omicron infections are surging in residential care facilities, causing massive sickouts among staff members and an uptick in hospitalizations and deaths. The latest visitor restrictions and testing requirements are also compounding the isolation that residents have suffered for almost two years.
Families Complain as States Require Covid Testing for Nursing Home Visits
Judith Graham
Relatives say it is important they be allowed to go into nursing homes because staff shortages are affecting care. And many are still upset about lengthy separations from loved ones during lockdowns earlier in the pandemic.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Record ACA Enrollment Puts Pressure on Congress
Temporary subsidies helped boost enrollment under the Affordable Care Act to a record 14.5 million, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. But unless Democrats in Congress extend those subsidies, many of those new enrollees will be in for a rude surprise just ahead of midterm elections. Meanwhile, the need to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer further crowds an already tight legislative schedule. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Diana Greene Foster, author of “The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having — Or Being Denied — An Abortion.”
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dealing With Drug Prices
Medicare officials tentatively plan to restrict the use of a controversial Alzheimer’s drug to only those patients participating in clinical trials, while the Department of Health and Human Services looks into lowering the monthly Medicare Part B premium. Meanwhile, covid confusion still reigns, as the Biden administration moves, belatedly, to make more masks and tests available. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: FDA Takes Center Stage
Congress is set to start its once-every-five-years review of the law that authorizes user fees to finance the hiring of personnel to speed the FDA review of drugs. The periodic renewals of “PDUFA” also give lawmakers a chance to make other changes to the agency at the hub of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the FDA could also find itself at the center of the abortion debate and a controversial new medication to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Readers and Tweeters: Give Nurse Practitioners Their Due
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Estados exigen prueba negativa de covid para visitas a hogares de adultos mayores. Familias se quejan
Judith Graham
Muchos familiares dicen que no pueden conseguir las pruebas ante la enorme demanda y la escasez de suministros, lo que les impide ver a sus seres queridos.