Aging
Eye Lift Surgery Increasingly Billed To Medicare
This story was originally published by The Center for Public Integrity, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C. Aging Americans worried about their droopy upper eyelids often rely on the plastic surgeon’s scalpel to turn back the hands of time. Increasingly, Medicare is footing the bill. Yes, Medicare. The public health insurance […]
Minnesota Ranked Best State For Seniors
Hoping to jump-start a discussion about the well-being of America’s rapidly-growing aging population, the United Health Foundation on Wednesday published the first comprehensive state-by-state analysis of senior health across the nation. Minnesota won the top spot on the list of healthiest states for seniors to live, followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Iowa. Bringing up […]
Letters To The Editor: Regarding Health Care’s ‘Dirty Secret’; Nurse Roles In California; Patient Satisfaction Measures
Letters to the Editor is a periodic KHN feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We will edit for space, and we require full names. Late in April, the Kaiser Health News’ story, Health Care’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’: No One May Be Coordinating Care (Rabin, 4/30), drew a number of reader […]
Panel Tells Congress Medicare Is Unfairly Penalizing Hospitals Serving The Poor
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with The financial penalties that Medicare imposes on hospitals with high rates of patient readmissions are too harsh for hospitals serving the poor and should be changed, according to a congressional advisory agency. Since last fall, Medicare has been reducing its payments to 2,213 hospitals under a provision in […]
FAQ: Medicare Beneficiaries May See Increased Access To Physical Therapy Or Some Other Services
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with For years, seniors in Medicare have been told that if they don’t improve when getting physical therapy or other skilled care, that care won’t be paid for. No progress, no Medicare coverage — unless the problem got worse, in which case the treatment could resume. This frustrating […]
Getting Help For Depression Is Important
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with Bobbie Ferguson, 71, has a message for older people who are feeling depressed and their families. “Get to professionals who will provide help,” said this Pittsburgh resident, who’s struggling through her third bout of this condition. Story Components Pittsburgh Researchers Look For Ways To Prevent Depression In […]
Pittsburgh Researchers Look For Ways To Prevent Depression In Seniors
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with A year ago, Bernard Belisle was in a bad way. Pain throbbed in his legs all day, every day, and he was angry and irritable much of the time. Then, he enrolled in a novel study on preventing depression in older adults at the University of Pittsburgh Medical […]
Facing A Tight Deadline, Long-Term Care Panel Holds First Meeting
The Commission on Long-Term Care held its first meeting Thursday on Capitol Hill with some members acknowledging that their late start adds to their challenges in offering Congress recommendations on how to finance the expensive services for seniors and disabled Americans. The panel is hobbled with a meager budget and staffing, and it is facing […]
A Busy ER Doctor Slows Down To Help Patients Cope With Pain
Dr. Linda Smith walks into a room at Providence Alaska Medical Center, ready with a stethoscope and a huge grin. She teases her patient, Dawn Dillard, saying that her spiky hair recently resembled a “faux hawk.” Dillard found out she had uterine cancer a year ago. Her oncologist gave her a year to live. The […]
Advocates Urge More Government Oversight Of Medicaid Managed Care
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with When the federal government recently gave Florida the green light to vastly expand its experiment with privatizing Medicaid, patient advocates quickly raised an alarm. They cited serious problems with the state’s five-county pilot managed care program and urged close monitoring of the companies that run private Medicaid […]