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A Medicare rule limiting payments for oxygen providers to 36 months, but requiring two additional years of service without the same payments, has prompted an aggressive lobbying campaign by the industry, and unintended consequences for patients.
Alzheimer's is thought of as a disease of the elderly, but hundreds of thousands of cases are in men and women under 65. Because the disease makes it difficult to work, these people often lose their jobs - and their health insurance.
Medicaid is front and center in the debate on overhauling the U.S health system and expanding coverage to the uninsured. With 60 million enrollees, Medicaid dwarfs other insurance programs, including its cousin, Medicare, which covers 44 million elderly and disabled people. Here's a chance to test your knowledge of Medicaid.
Patients who are readmitted to the hospital soon after they're discharged cost the health care system billions of dollars a year in unnecessary spending. These "frequent fliers," as doctors sometimes call them, illustrate the worst aspects of poorly coordinated care. Innovative programs may serve as models for fixing the problems.
A long-term care program could provide significant revenue in the short range. Congressional Quarterly reports.
The shortage in primary care doctors is causing older doctors to stay on the job while young ones opt for specialties.
The over-65 crowd, with its outsized political clout, will have a big say in the fate of any health overhaul. And that helps explain a recent agreement on drug discounts involving the pharmaceutical industry, the White House and Congress.
Once a senior begins receiving long-term care services, she and her family often are in for two shocks. The first is that Medicare won't pay beyond perhaps a few months after a hospitalization. The second is that while Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor, may help, chances are it will only do so for nursing home residents.
Experts argue long-term care should be part of health-care reform, according to Congressional Quarterly.
Lawmakers want federal rules to cover home health care workers while Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, plans to introduce legislation in Congress today to better educate the public on end-of-life care.
Congress is turning its attention to long-term care insurance (LTCI) producing information about how such insurance may help consumers make informed decisions for their long-term care needs.
Long-term care plays an important role in the health plan released Tuesday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
As state revenues continue their downturn due to the economic recession, 16 states are trying to find ways to deal with increased health care costs.
Sen. Ted Kennedy is vowing to make long-term care insurance part of health reform. But even he has an uphill struggle to make sure it's included in any broad-based bill.
Vermont will join six other states to receive support from the Center for Health Care Strategies and the Commonwealth Fund to develop strategies to integrate care for patients who's health care is paid for by both Medicare and the state-run Medicaid program.
A selection of viewpoints expressed by news organizations around the nation.
Will allowing younger people to buy coverage ease a health-care problem or break an already overburdened program?
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