Medicare & Aging: March 16, 2022
Biden Pledges Better Nursing Home Care, but He Likely Won’t Fast-Track It
Rachana Pradhan and Harris Meyer
CMS chief Chiquita Brooks-LaSure says the agency reserves its power to quickly institute new regulations for “absolute emergencies.” On staffing, nursing home residents might need to wait years to see any real change.
Biden’s Promise of Better Nursing Home Care Will Require Many More Workers
Jordan Rau
The president wants to set minimum staffing levels for the beleaguered nursing home industry. But, given a lack of transparency surrounding the industry’s finances, it’s a mystery how facilities will shoulder the added costs.
Fact Check: Biden Sets High Bar in 1st State of the Union Speech
Victoria Knight and Colleen DeGuzman
What a difference a year makes. The speech was delivered to a largely unmasked crowd of lawmakers, justices, and Cabinet members in the House chamber.
Medicare Advantage Plans Send Pals to Seniors’ Homes for Companionship — And Profits
Phil Galewitz
Many Medicare Advantage plans send caregivers to the homes of seniors periodically to help with housework and provide companionship. But the workers may also prod seniors into activities that boost the plans’ Medicare ratings and federal reimbursements.
Despite Seniors’ Strong Desire to Age in Place, the Village Model Remains a Boutique Option
Judith Graham
Membership-based villages help arrange services for seniors — such as handyman help or transportation to appointments — and provide social connections through classes, leisure opportunities, or community events. Despite great promise, they have been slow to expand because of difficulties raising funding and keeping people interested.
As Covid Slogs On, Seniors Find Fortitude Waning and Malaise Growing
Judith Graham
The spread of the omicron variant has dashed the hopes of many older adults that the country was exiting the worst of the pandemic, leaving them anxious while their patience wears thin.
Plan to Fix Postal Service Shifts New Retirees to Medicare — Along With Billions in Costs
Michael McAuliff
After a years-long bitter partisan fight over reforming the U.S. Postal Service’s finances and service, congressional leaders say they have a compromise. The bill, which has won endorsements from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, would force future Postal Service retirees to use Medicare as their primary source of health coverage.
Seeking to Shift Costs to Medicare, More Employers Move Retirees to Advantage Plans
Susan Jaffe
Private and public employers are increasingly using the government’s Medicare Advantage program as an alternative to their existing retiree health plan and traditional Medicare coverage. As a result, the federal government is paying the “overwhelming majority” of medical costs, according to an industry analyst.
Journalists Review Hospital Penalties and Problems Riddling Medicaid Rx Program
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Patients Divided Over Alzheimer’s Drug: Is It a ‘Risk I’m Willing to Take’ or Just a ‘Magic Pill’?
Judith Graham
Medicare has proposed limiting coverage of Aduhelm, the costly new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease, and several prominent groups representing patients and their families are pressing the program to make it more widely available. But among individuals facing the disease, the outlook is more nuanced.
‘Injections, Injections, Injections’: Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain
Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Jenny Gold
In May 2021, Lags Medical Centers, one of California’s largest chains of pain clinics, abruptly closed its doors amid a cloaked state investigation. Nine months later, patients are still in the dark about what happened with their care and to their bodies.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Contemplating a Post-‘Roe’ World
In anticipation of the Supreme Court rolling back abortion rights this year, both Democrats and Republicans are arguing among themselves over how best to proceed to either protect or restrict the procedure. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are at risk of losing their health insurance when the federal government declares an end to the current “public health emergency.” Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Jay Hancock, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a couple whose insurance company deemed their twins’ stay in intensive care not an emergency.
Listen: An Unsettling Investigation Into the Closure of a Chain of Pain Clinics
KHN senior correspondents Jenny Gold and Anna Maria Barry-Jester joined KVPR’s Kathleen Schock on “Valley Edition” to discuss their investigation into the abrupt closure of one of California’s largest chain of pain clinics — and the patients left behind.
Watch: Seniors Share How They’ve Made It Through the Pandemic
Nine seniors from across the country talk frankly about feeling alone and constrained, missing church, and family routines. They also share newfound hope and discoveries that arose from the crisis.
Readers and Tweeters Have Mental Health Care on Their Minds
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.