KFF Health News’ coverage of aging and long-term care issues is supported in part by a grant from The SCAN Foundation. Stories related to these topics are featured below. Click here for more on KFF Health News and its funders.

Tips para ayudar a los padres mayores que se resisten a recibir ayuda o consejos

Lidiar con un padre mayor que se resiste obstinadamente a aceptar ayuda no es fácil. Pero la solución no es que los padres sientan que se está pasando por encima de ellos, tomando el control de sus asuntos.

A Covid Test Medicare Scam May Be a Trial Run for Further Fraud

Before the covid-19 public health emergency ended, Medicare advocates around the country noticed a rise in complaints from beneficiaries who received at-home covid tests they never requested. Bad actors may have used seniors’ Medicare information to improperly bill the federal government — and could do it again, say federal investigators.

Estafas a Medicare con pruebas para covid pueden generar otros fraudes

La cobertura de Medicare para las pruebas caseras de covid-19 finalizó hace pocos días, pero las estafas generadas por este beneficio temporal podrían tener consecuencias persistentes para las personas mayores.

As US Life Expectancy Falls, Experts Cite the Health Impacts of Incarceration

In a nation with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, imprisonment speeds the aging process, research shows. Some experts complain the federal government isn’t collecting or releasing data that could identify disease patterns and prevent deaths.

End of Covid Emergency Will Usher in Changes Across the US Health System

The May 11 expiration of the federal government’s pandemic emergency declaration will affect patient care across a broad range of settings, including telemedicine, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Dementia Care Programs Help, If Caregivers Can Find Them

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.

California Dangles Bonuses for Nursing Homes That Add Staff

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.

Proposed Medicare Advantage Changes Cannot Accurately Be Called ‘Cuts,’ Experts Say

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.”

A Law Was Meant to Free Sick or Aging Inmates. Instead, Some Are Left to Die in Prison.

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.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: 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.

‘We Ain’t Gonna Get It’: Why Bernie Sanders Says His ‘Medicare for All’ Dream Must Wait

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.

As Long-Term Care Staffing Crisis Worsens, Immigrants Can Bridge the Gaps

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.

Nursing Home Owners Drained Cash During Pandemic While Residents Deteriorated

As the federal government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected. “A dog would get better care than he did,” one resident’s wife said.

More Californians Are Dying at Home. Another Covid ‘New Normal’?

The proportion of Californians dying at home, rather than in a hospital or nursing home, accelerated during the pandemic, a trend that has outlasted the rigid lockdowns linked to the initial shift.