Medicare and Aging: March 2, 2023

Community Workers Fan Out to Persuade Immigrant Seniors to Get Covered
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report California has enrolled into Medi-Cal more than 300,000 older immigrant adults lacking legal residency since May, but the state doesn’t know how many more might be eligible. Community workers are now searching for them.

As Long-Term Care Staffing Crisis Worsens, Immigrants Can Bridge the Gaps
By Michelle Andrews The industry has long relied on immigrants to bolster its ranks, and they’ll be critical to meeting future staffing needs, experts say. But as the baby boom generation fills beds, policymakers are slow to open new pathways for foreign workers.

‘We Ain’t Gonna Get It’: Why Bernie Sanders Says His ‘Medicare for All’ Dream Must Wait
By Arthur Allen As he takes the reins of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, the independent from Vermont and implacable champion of “Medicare for All” maps out his strategy for negotiating with Republicans — and Big Pharma.

A Law Was Meant to Free Sick or Aging Inmates. Instead, Some Are Left to Die in Prison.
By Fred Clasen-Kelly The First Step Act was supposed to help free terminally ill and aging federal inmates who pose little or no threat to public safety. But while petitions for compassionate release skyrocketed during the pandemic, judges denied most requests.

Montana Seeks to Insulate Nursing Homes From Future Financial Crises
By Keely Larson Lawmakers are considering creating standards to set Medicaid reimbursement rates. But industry observers wonder whether the move would be too little, too late to bolster a beleaguered industry.

California Dangles Bonuses for Nursing Homes That Add Staff
By Samantha Young Rather than simply reward top-performing facilities, the state’s Medicaid program will hand bonuses to nursing homes — even low-rated ones — for hiring more workers and reducing staff turnover.

Dementia Care Programs Help, If Caregivers Can Find Them
By Judith Graham Programs assisting people with dementia — and their caregivers — improve quality of life and care. But millions of unpaid family and friend caregivers may not know where or how to find help.

Your Money or Your Life: Patient on $50,000-a-Week Cancer Drug Fears Leaving Behind Huge Medical Debt
By Fred Schulte When Medicare stops paying for a pricey drug that prolongs life, an Ohio man considers giving up treatment to spare his family enormous debt.

Why Do Politicians Weaponize Medicare? Because It Works
By Julie Rovner Politicians are again pointing fingers over who wants to cut Medicare. As past Washington brawls show, the party accused of threatening popular entitlements tends to lose elections — although it’s the beneficiaries relying on lawmakers to fund it who stand to lose the most.

Proposed Medicare Advantage Changes Cannot Accurately Be Called ‘Cuts,’ Experts Say
By Madison Czopek, PolitiFact and Yacob Reyes, PolitiFact CMS advanced two proposed changes that could affect Medicare Advantage plans. One would allow the government to recover past overpayments. As a result, it could reduce those insurers’ profits, leading them to increase enrollees' out-of-pocket costs or reduce benefits. But it's inaccurate to characterize the changes as "cuts."

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Senators Have Mental Health Crises, Too
When U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania checked himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of depression this month, he got an unusual reaction from his colleagues in Congress: compassion. It’s a far cry from how politicians once kept their mental health issues under wraps at all costs. Meanwhile, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley is stirring up controversy by proposing that all politicians over age 75 be required to pass a mental competency test to hold office. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.

Era of ‘Free’ Covid Vaccines, Test Kits, and Treatments Is Ending. Who Will Pay the Tab Now?
By Julie Appleby Insurers, employers, and taxpayers will all be affected as drug manufacturers move these products to the commercial market.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Au Revoir, Public Health Emergency
The Biden administration this week announced it would let the covid-19 public health emergency lapse on May 11, even as the Republican-led House was voting to immediately eliminate the special authorities of the so-called PHE. Meanwhile, anti-abortion forces are pressuring legislators to both tighten abortion restrictions and pay for every birth in the nation. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN’s chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Hannah Wesolowski of the National Alliance on Mental Illness about the rollout of the national 988 suicide prevention hotline.

Health Policies Were a Prominent Theme in Biden’s State of the Union Speech
By KFF Health News and PolitiFact staffs Our partners at PolitiFact fact-checked a range of President Joe Biden’s statements, including key health-related comments.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Health-Heavy State of the Union
President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address leaned heavily on health care issues. Biden took a victory lap for recent accomplishments like capping prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare. He also urged Congress to make permanent the boosted premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and he sparred with Republicans on threats to cut Social Security and Medicare. Also this week, both sides in the abortion debate are bracing for a court decision out of Texas that could, at least temporarily, make the abortion pill mifepristone illegal nationwide. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate Baicker of the University of Chicago about a possible middle ground in the effort to get universal health insurance coverage.

Special Delivery: Heart-Heavy Health Policy Valentines
KHN shares the cream of the crop of creative valentines about health policy submitted by readers and tweeters. Our favorite is anointed with an original illustration and bragging rights as “the one.”

Readers and Tweeters Urgently Plea for a Proper ‘Role’ Call in the ER
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

Se acaba la era de las vacunas y las pruebas gratuitas contra covid. ¿Quién va a pagar?
By Julie Appleby Las personas podrán obtener estas vacunas a bajo costo o sin costo mientras duren los suministros del gobierno. Luego, dependerá de su seguro de salud.