Medicare & Aging: July 07, 2022

Seeking to Kick-Start Biden’s Agenda, Schumer Unveils a Bill for Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
By Michael McAuliff In addition to allowing federal officials to negotiate the price that Medicare pays for some drugs, the bill would cap annual out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000. But before Democrats can pass the bill under special rules that prevent Republicans from staging a filibuster, they must get approval from the Senate parliamentarian.

Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage for Denying Care and Overcharging
By Fred Schulte The Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office say seniors enrolled in the program are suffering and taxpayers are getting bilked for billions of dollars a year.

100 Million People in America Are Saddled With Health Care Debt
By Noam N. Levey The U.S. health system now produces debt on a mass scale, a new investigation shows. Patients face gut-wrenching sacrifices.

Seniors With Prediabetes Should Eat Better, Get Moving, but Not Fret Too Much About Diabetes
By Judith Graham About half of adults 65 and older have above-normal blood sugar levels that put them in the prediabetes category. Although that is a signal to improve your eating habits and get more exercise, researchers say only a small percentage of the group will develop diabetes.

‘Free’ Screening? Know Your Rights to Get No-Cost Care
By Julie Appleby Even a decade in, the Affordable Care Act’s recommendations to simply cover preventive screening and care without cost sharing remain confusing and complex.

Buy and Bust: When Private Equity Comes for Rural Hospitals
By Sarah Jane Tribble Noble Health swept into two small Missouri towns promising to save their hospitals. Instead, workers and vendors say it stopped paying bills and government inspectors found it put patients at risk. Within two years — after taking millions in federal covid relief and big administrative fees — it locked the doors.

Medicaid Weighs Attaching Strings to Nursing Home Payments to Improve Patient Care
By Susan Jaffe The Biden administration is considering whether Medicaid, which pays the bills for 62% of nursing home residents, should require that most of that funding be used to provide care, rather than for maintenance, capital improvements, or profits.

Más de 100 millones de estadounidenses viven acosados por las deudas médicas
By Noam N. Levey La investigación revela un problema mucho más extendido de lo que se había informado anteriormente. Esto se debe a que gran parte de la deuda que acumulan los pacientes figura como saldos de tarjetas de crédito, préstamos familiares o planes de pago a hospitales y otros proveedores médicos.

Las personas mayores con prediabetes deben comer mejor y ser activas, pero no preocuparse mucho por la diabetes
By Judith Graham Cerca de 26 millones de adultos de 65 años y más tienen prediabetes, el azúcar un poco más alta de lo normal. Pero eso no siempre significa que se desarrollará diabetes, dicen expertos.