Home Health Agencies Get Medicare’s Star Treatment
For the first time, the government is assigning one to five stars to the agencies that care for seniors in their homes. Nearly half of 9,000 agencies rated captured average scores.
Medicare
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New Regulations Would Require Modernizing Nursing Home Care
The proposed rules, released in advance of the White House Conference on Aging, cover wide-ranging topics, from meals to roommate selection to staff training.
By Susan Jaffe -
Want A Good Laugh? Head To The Hospital
Across the country, hospitals are offering seniors social activities and other benefits to help them stay healthy and out of the hospital, while also encouraging them to come back to visit.
By Susan Jaffe -
When Turning 65, Consumers With Marketplace Plans Need To Be Vigilant In Choosing Health Coverage
Seniors can opt to stay in their marketplace plans when they become eligible for Medicare, but most lose their access to subsidies and failing to move into Medicare promptly results in premium penalties.
By Susan Jaffe -
Medicare Slow To Adopt Telemedicine Due To Cost Concerns
Less than 1 percent of beneficiaries use the technology because Congress has put tight restrictions on it.
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Medicare Drug Plans Favor Generic Opioids Over Those Designed To Avoid Abuse, Study Finds
The Part D plans have cut back coverage of a newer version of OxyContin that has been formulated to make it tougher for people to snort or inject it. That new version is 20 times more expensive than the generic.
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Medicare Pays For Spouses To Get Grief Counseling Through Hospice
But a new study of Medicare beneficiaries finds that hospice services had little impact on depression suffered by individuals after the death of their spouses.
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Study: Cataract Surgery Fast And Safe, But Many On Medicare Get Costly Pre-Testing
Having blood work and other tests before cataract surgery isn’t usually recommended, but a study finds that more than half of Medicare beneficiaries get them.
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Medicare Itemizes Its $103 Billion Drug Bill
Federal officials release data showing prescription histories of hundreds of thousands of doctors and identifying the most common and costly drugs.
By Jordan Rau -
Officials Weigh Options To Hold Down Medicare Costs For Hospice
Under Medicare’s hospice benefit, patients agree to forgo curative treatment, but they can continue to receive coverage for health problems not related to their terminal illness. Federal officials suspect some of those expenses should be covered by hospice.
By Susan Jaffe -
A Look Back As Congress Repeals Medicare ‘Doc Fix’ Law
KHN's Julie Rovner reflects on the constant battle over what Medicare pays doctors -- a fight that ended this week as President Obama signed into law an overhaul that repeals the old method and institutes new provisions to pay doctors based on the quality of care they give.
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There May Still Be Time To Save On Health Law’s Tax Penalties
Some consumers who face a 2014 tax bill can make adjustments to improve their liability.
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FAQ: Congress Passes A Bill To Fix Medicare’s Doctor Payments. What’s In It?
A rare bipartisan effort will scrap the troubled physician payment formula and transition to a system focused on new quality measures.
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Medicare Is Stingy In First Year Of Doctor Bonuses
More than 300 large medical groups are being penalized because they did not score well on quality measures or didn’t report their efforts to the government. The incentives will soon expand to all doctors who treat Medicare patients.
By Jordan Rau -
Health On The Hill: No Senate ‘Doc Fix’ Vote Before Recess. Will Break Hurt Chances?
After a decade of short term fixes, the House passed legislation to replace Medicare’s troubled Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR, and replace it with an alternative doctor payment formula. Kaiser Health News' Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro's Jennifer Haberkorn discuss what's next for the bill when the Senate returns from recess next month.
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House Approves Permanent Fix For Medicare Doctor Payments
For more than a decade, doctors who treat Medicare patients have been threatened with pay cuts due to a faulty formula of how doctors are reimbursed. But in a rare bipartisan agreement, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a deal to permanently end the problem and reward quality of care, not quantity.
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Rural Hospitals, One Of The Cornerstones Of Small Town Life, Face Increasing Pressure
For people in Mount Vernon, Texas, the loss of their hospital means longer trips for treatment and uncertainty when a medical crisis hits.
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Hundreds Of Hospitals Struggle To Improve Patient Satisfaction
Pleasing patients has become more important to hospitals as Medicare takes consumers views into account when setting payments. Most hospitals are getting better, but others have not improved since the government started publishing ratings six years ago.
By Jordan Rau -
Obamacare, Private Medicare Plans Must Keep Updated Doctor Directories In 2016
New federal rules requiring current information apply to insurers selling plans on healthcare.gov and the private policies that are an alternative to Medicare.
By Susan Jaffe -
Some Dementia Can Be Treated, But My Mother Waited 10 Years For A Diagnosis
For many physicians, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, doesn’t come to mind when they see people with cognitive and gait problems, although it is one of the few treatable causes of dementia.