As the debate over remaking the US health system heats up, I’d like to make a modest request: Let’s stop talking about Obamacare. Drop the partisan, misleading, counterproductive, and increasingly irrelevant hot button label. Instead let’s talk about the pros and cons of what are likely to be some complex and far-reaching changes to the way Americans get their medical [...]
A proposal by congressional Republicans aimed at reducing health insurance costs for young people would substantially boost premiums for those over age 50, according to a new analysis by the actuarial firm Milliman Inc. The proposal could result in up to 18,000 older adults losing health coverage and increase the cost of federal insurance subsidies by $6.7 billion, if the [...]
Older adults with chronic illness often need a combination of medical treatment and social and spiritual supports. Together, they can make people healthier and happier, and less likely to suffer acute episodes that result in preventable hospitalizations. The medical treatment comes from doctors, hospitals, and health systems while the spiritual support comes from faith communities. And, in many cases, so [...]
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was largely silent on Medicare, though he often suggested he’d leave the program untouched. Not any more. It now looks as if Trump may push for major changes in the principal health care program for older adults and some younger people with disabilities. But what will he do? He has not said, but House [...]
Medicaid long-term care is rapidly changing, and some of those trends may eventually remake the way all of us receive personal assistance as we age or become disabled. Nearly half of all states are now providing Medicaid long-term care benefits through managed care, and 13 states are requiring older adults to receive care that way. At the same time, four [...]
On Friday, July 1, it will be 50 years since Medicare first began paying health benefits for older adults. It is an anniversary worth celebrating—and easy to forget that prior to Medicare half of all seniors had no insurance. But much has changed in a half century—and Medicare has not kept up. It is time to rethink the program—both the [...]
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposed blueprint for health reform would make major changes in medical care for seniors, raising out-of-pocket costs for some and shifting others from traditional Medicare coverage to commercial insurance. His plan, called A Better Way, would slowly raise the age of eligibility for Medicare and cap federal spending for the program, increasing subsidies for low-income seniors [...]
How much would it cost if government pays for all long-term care? About $4 trillion over the next decade. We know because Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has proposed to do just that, as part of his ambitious Medicare-for-all health insurance program. And, in an effort to calculate the overall cost of Sanders’s domestic policy agenda, a group of my [...]
Discharge planning is often a broken link in the chain of care for hospital patients. Older adults and others with complex care needs nearly always need follow-up after they are discharged. They’ll almost certainly have to take new medications. They may need bandages changed after surgery, or physical therapy after a stroke. Unfortunately, they and their families rarely get the [...]
A powerful bipartisan group of U.S. senators wants to improve medical care for older Americans with chronic disease. By doing so, they are taking an important step in improving the health and quality of life of these seniors. But so far at least, they are focusing on only half the problem. While older people with chronic conditions do need improved [...]