After the new Congress is sworn in next January it may address several issues that directly affect the well-being of older adults as well as younger people with disabilities. The House, which will be controlled by Democrats, and the Senate, still run by Republicans, will have very different perspectives on these issues but both chambers are likely to confront the [...]
The Democrats won control of the House, largely on the back of health policy. And many members of the caucus have gone on record in favor of what’s come to be known as “Medicare for all.” The idea is hugely popular, backed by 58 percent of Americans in some polls and up to 70 percent in others. But what does [...]
With great fanfare, and just two weeks before the congressional elections, President Trump announced a new initiative aimed at reducing Medicare drug prices. It is an issue he has been promising to address since his presidential campaign. But a close look shows that the package announced yesterday is quite modest. The plan, which the Department of Health & Human Services [...]
It is Medicare open season. And, let’s face it, nobody has any idea what to do. The other night, I got a call from a friend who works in the long-term care advocacy world. She will soon turn 65 and is confronting the reality of enrolling in Medicare. She has been doing diligent research and creating detailed spreadsheets. And she [...]
You probably have heard the statistic: One-quarter of Medicare spending is for patients in the last year of life. It is cited as a major reason for excessive medical spending in the US and leads to a widely-accepted conclusion: If only we would stop “wasting” dollars on futile care for those who soon will die anyway, we could significantly slow [...]
Earlier this year, Congress and the Trump Administration for the first time allowed Medicare Advantage plans to offer their members non-medical supportive services such as transportation and home meals. As insurers begin to roll out their plans for Medicare’s 2019 open season enrollment, we are starting to see what these new benefits are going to look like. Relatively few plans [...]
You hear it all the time, from doctors, patients, and critics of Medicare: “It is impossible to find a doctor who will take Medicare. If you find one, you will have to wait forever for an appointment.” There is just one problem: The story that patients cannot access care from Medicare physicians is an urban myth. It is not true. [...]
The Trump Administration and a bipartisan majority in Congress have moved to allow Medicare Advantage managed care plans to offer a wide range of personal services such as home delivered meals, transportation, and bathroom grab bars—to members who need them. This would be a sea change in the way Medicare has supported older adults with chronic conditions for the past [...]
The Trump Administration has proposed major changes in the way Medicare pays doctors, as well in the ways hospitals disclose prices. Among the immediate adjustments: The government would pay more for some procedures such as kidney dialysis and less for others such as hip and knee replacements. It would also make major revisions to an ambitious new payment model that [...]
The Trump Administration has taken a modest step towards expanding the use of remote monitors to track blood pressure and other vital signs for Medicare recipients living at home. While there is little evidence so far that remote monitoring improves health outcomes, advocates for seniors as well as device manufacturers believe the tools can make it more likely that frail [...]