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The generation that faced discrimination, ostracism, and the AIDS epidemic now faces old age. Many struggle with isolation along with a host of pressing health problems.
A whistleblower suit alleged a health insurer bilked Medicare by exaggerating how sick patients were.
Judith Graham, KFF Health News' "Navigating Aging" columnist, talks with older adults who live alone by choice or circumstance. They share what it means to thrive in later years.
Many older adults living alone, isolated and vulnerable, struggle with health issues. But a noteworthy slice of this growing group of seniors maintain a high degree of well-being. Meet Hilda Jaffe, age 102.
Aging alone, without a spouse, a partner, or children, requires careful planning. New programs for this growing population offer much-needed help.
Last winter, only 4 in 10 nursing home residents got an updated covid vaccine. The low uptake leaves a fragile population vulnerable. Some industry watchdogs say it could be a sign of eroding trust between nursing home residents and providers.
There is a large population of older adults with physical problems that prevent them from leaving home. Many have significant medical and practical needs that go unmet.
Diverse networks of friends, former co-workers, neighbors, and extended family are often essential sources of support for older adults living alone. Often it is the elderly caring for the elderly.
Every year, Medicare officials encourage beneficiaries to shop around for their drug coverage. Few take the time. This year, it might be more important than ever.
This legislative cycle, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills affirming reproductive rights and mandating insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, but the Democrat was reluctant to impose new regulations and frequently cited costs for vetoing bills.
In a health care system that assumes older adults have family caregivers to help them, those facing dementia by themselves often fall through the cracks.
Older men who find themselves living alone tend to have fewer close personal relationships than older women. They’re vulnerable, physically and emotionally, but often reluctant to ask for help.
The former president instead favored a temporary model that could’ve brought down prices of some prescription drugs, but it was blocked by the courts.
Longer life spans, rising rates of divorce, widowhood, and childlessness, and smaller, far-flung families are fueling a “gray revolution” in older adults’ living arrangements. It can have profound health consequences.
State and local governments are struggling to keep up with the increasing burden of heat-related illness as summers get hotter because of climate change. In Missoula County, Montana, officials are working with researchers to understand trends in heat-related 911 calls.
Exercise is considered fundamental treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a progressive condition that attacks the central nervous system. But there’s a huge equity gap, researchers say, with Black people missing from popular treatment programs.
Though the Trump administration established a voluntary, temporary program lowering insulin costs for some older Americans on Medicare, the mandatory price caps implemented through Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act go significantly further.
Even after multiple massive power outages — including one from a 2021 winter storm in Texas that prompted a U.S. Senate investigation — little has changed for older Americans in senior living facilities when natural disasters strike.
Rising health care costs are fueling anxiety among older Americans covered by Medicare. They’re right to be concerned.
The White House has launched an initiative on women’s health. Studying the health of older women, a largely neglected group in medical research, should be a priority.
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