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Physical therapists left the field en masse during the covid-19 pandemic, even as demand from aging baby boomers skyrocketed. While universities try to boost their training programs to increase the number of graduates, patients seeking relief from often debilitating pain are left to wait.
Deciding when, or whether, to buy long-term care insurance can be complex. Here’s what to know.
The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for millions of older Americans, in part by underestimating how many policyholders would use their coverage.
The facilities can look like luxury apartments or modest group homes and can vary in pricing structures. Here’s a guide.
The add-ons pile up: $93 for medications, $50 for cable TV. Prices soar as the industry leaves no service unbilled, out of reach for many families.
Social Security has been overpaying recipients for years, then demanding the money back, leaving people with bills for up to tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in six weeks, as Democrats came to the rescue of divided House Republicans over annual spending bills that were supposed to be finished by Oct. 1. But the brinksmanship is likely to repeat itself early in 2024, when the next temporary spending patches expire. Meanwhile, a pair of investigations unveiled this week demonstrate how difficult it still is for seniors to get needed long-term and rehabilitation care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
The United States has no coherent system of long-term care, leading many to struggle to stay independent or rely on a patchwork of solutions.
The financial and emotional toll of providing and paying for long-term care is wreaking havoc on the lives of millions of Americans. Read about how a few families are navigating the challenges, in their own words.
Most countries spend more than the United States on care, but middle-class and affluent people still bear a substantial portion of the costs.
The principles and practices of geriatrics are being widely disseminated. And we understand much more now about how to improve older adults’ care. Yet we don’t have enough geriatricians to meet the growing demand.
The government has proposed that Medicare fully cover preexposure prophylaxis drugs that prevent HIV, a change that could help America catch up with nations in Europe and Africa that are on track to end new infections decades before the U.S. under its current approach.
At a Senate confirmation hearing, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said he would address hardships the Social Security agency has caused by demanding money back from beneficiaries.
Medicare is expanding access to mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists come Jan. 1. But the belief that seniors who suffer from mental health problems should just grin and bear it remains a troubling barrier to care.
The CDC’s RSV vaccination recommendations beg the question: How much should an immunization that will possibly be given to millions of Americans cost to be truly valuable?
Quest Diagnostics is selling a blood test online to consumers. But results may not be reliable or easy to interpret. And it isn’t covered by insurance.
A leading geriatrician says a lot of health information for older adults isn’t as useful as it should be. No person’s aging process looks exactly like another’s. So she’s written a guidebook.
Covid relief payments weren’t supposed to cost people their Social Security benefits, but some recipients say they did. Senators want to know why.
Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large — often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohio’s November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
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