Aging

Three Key Changes Proposed For Medicare Part D

Among the elements of the proposal that consumers might notice are changes in what drugs will be “protected” so that they are more readily available to seniors, how many plans are offered and what pharmacies will be offering the best deals.

Rep. John Dingell, Long-Time Champion Of Health Legislation, Will Not Seek Re-Election

Another health care legend is retiring on Capitol Hill. Rep. John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who was a key player in many health care battles in Congress, including enactment of the 2010 health care law and his push for a “Patient’s Bill of Rights” in the late 1990s and early 2000s, said Monday he […]

Bipartisan Group Of Senators Concerned About Medicare Advantage Cuts

Some Democrats have now joined their Republican counterparts in asking the Obama administration to moderate scheduled Medicare Advantage payment cuts for 2015. In a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner,  a bipartisan coalition of 40 senators urged the administration “to maintain payment  levels that will allow [Medicare Advantage] beneficiaries to […]

Wyden Plan May Be Vision For Future Medicare Reforms

Key members of both parties and both chambers of Congress stand before the podium to introduce their bipartisan Medicare proposal.  Insurers and health care providers welcome it. Seniors’ groups are on board, too. If Congress is ever going to overhaul Medicare, it will almost certainly have to happen this way.  Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat widely […]

Detailed Report Delivers Good News On Health Costs, But Will It Last?

Definitive 2012 numbers show continued, historically low increases in medical prices and the use of medical services. Health spending rose 3.7 percent, up slightly from 2011 but far below the 8 percent increases of the early 2000s, according to figures released Monday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Health spending has grown faster than incomes and […]

How Much Does A New Hip Cost? Even The Surgeon Doesn’t Know

What will a gallon of milk set you back? How about a new car? You probably have a rough idea. But what about a medical device — the kind that gets implanted during a knee or hip replacement? Chances are you have no clue. And you are not alone: The surgeons who implant those devices probably […]

364 Hospitals Have High Rates Of Overall Readmissions, New Medicare Data Show

Medicare’s new comprehensive measure of hospital readmissions shows that at least 20 percent of the hospitals in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island have higher rates of patients returning than the national average. Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Washington led the states with the highest proportion […]