Medicare and Aging: Oct. 18, 2023
Covid Relief Payments Triggered Feds to Demand Money Back From Social Security Recipients
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Some Social Security beneficiaries say the government is clawing back benefits after they received covid stimulus payments that were supposed to be exempt from asset limits.
As Covid Infections Rise, Nursing Homes Are Still Waiting for Vaccines
Jordan Rau and Tony Leys
“People want covid-19 to be in the rearview mirror,” one nursing home official says. Faced with a slow rollout of the updated covid vaccines, and without state mandates for workers to get vaccinated, most skilled nursing facilities are relying on persuasion to boost vaccination rates among staff and residents.
Rural Nursing Home Supporters Fear Proposed Staffing Standards Will Trigger More Closures
Tony Leys
The Biden administration says a recently proposed minimum staffing standard would help ensure quality care, but nursing home leaders predict many rural facilities would struggle to meet it.
House Panel to Hold Hearing on Erroneous Social Security Payments
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Congress is beginning to take action on the Social Security Administration’s clawbacks of payments it mistakenly made to poor, retired, and disabled Americans.
Thousands Got Exactech Knee or Hip Replacements. Then, Patients Say, the Parts Began to Fail.
Fred Schulte
In a torrent of lawsuits, patients accuse Florida device maker Exactech of hiding knee and hip implant defects for years. The company denies the allegations.
Social Security Overpays Billions to People, Many on Disability. Then It Demands the Money Back.
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Beneficiaries in five states described what happened when they received letters calling on them to return overpayments that can reach tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Social Security Overpayments Draw Scrutiny and Outrage From Members of Congress
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
Lawmakers are faulting the Social Security Administration for issuing billions of dollars of payments that beneficiaries weren’t entitled to receive — and then demanding the money back — in the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group.
Social Security Chief Orders Broad Review of Benefit Overpayments
David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group
In the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group, the SSA acting commissioner said a special team will review “overpayment policies and procedures” and report directly back to her.
Readers Rail at Social Security Overpayments and Insurers’ Prior Authorizations
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
When You Think About Your Health, Don’t Forget Your Eyes
Bernard J. Wolfson
Americans think losing their eyesight would be one of the worst possible health outcomes, yet millions lack a fundamental understanding of eye health.
‘I’m So Burned Out’: Fighting to See a Specialist Amplified Pain for Riverside County Woman
Molly Castle Work
Teresa Johnson has been in extreme pain for more than a year after what she believes was a severe allergic reaction to iodine. Her Medi-Cal plan approved her referral to a specialist, but it took her numerous phone calls, multiple complaints, and several months to book an appointment.
Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here’s What’s New and What to Consider.
Julie Appleby
Fall is the time when enrollees in the federal program for older people and people with certain disabilities can make changes to their health and drug plans. The decision can be complicated, but here are some key points to keep in mind.
Feds Hope to Cut Sepsis Deaths by Hitching Medicare Payments to Treatment Stats
Julie Appleby
A new rule sets specific treatment metrics for suspected sepsis cases in an effort to reduce deaths, but some experts say the measures could add to antibiotic overuse and need to be more flexible.
New Medicare Advantage Plans Tailor Offerings to Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+
Stephanie Stephens
As more seniors opt for Medicare Advantage, a few small insurers have begun offering plans that provide culturally targeted benefits for cohorts including Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ people. The approach, policy researchers say, has potential and perils.
What Happens to Health Programs if the Federal Government Shuts Down?
Julie Rovner
Medicare and Medicaid shouldn’t be affected, but confusion can be expected.
Feds Rein In Use of Predictive Software That Limits Care for Medicare Advantage Patients
Susan Jaffe
Software sifts through millions of medical records to match patients with similar diagnoses and characteristics and then predicts what kind of care an individual will need and for how long. New federal rules will ensure human experts are part of the process.
Hep C’s Number Comes Up: Can Biden’s 5-Year Plan Eliminate the Longtime Scourge?
Michelle Andrews
Before covid-19, hepatitis C held the distinction of claiming more American lives each year than any other infectious disease — that’s despite the marketing of several relatively affordable, highly effective treatments.
More Medicaid Messiness
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It’s just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program’s pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient’s family for more than a year.
Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
Nuevos planes de Medicare Advantage adaptan ofertas para asiáticos, latinos y LGTBQ+
Stephanie Stephens
A medida que Medicare Advantage gana popularidad entre los adultos mayores, tres compañías del sur de California están lanzando nuevos planes que se enfocan en comunidades culturales y étnicas, con ofertas especiales y profesionales que hablan su idioma nativo.
Resurge la hepatitis C, ¿podrá el plan de Biden eliminar este viejo flagelo en cinco años?
Michelle Andrews
Se calcula que el 40% de los más de 2 millones de personas con hepatitis C en Estados Unidos ni siquiera saben que la tienen, pero el virus puede estar dañando silenciosamente su hígado, causando cicatrices, insuficiencia hepática o cáncer de hígado.
Cuando pienses en tu salud, no te olvides de tus ojos
Bernard J. Wolfson
Muchos planes de salud cubren los exámenes de visión de rutina, pero estos generalmente no incluyen el tipo de examen que se utiliza para recetar anteojos y lentes de contacto.