Aging
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Study: Supplemental Plans Raise Medicare Costs 22 Percent
Restaurants know customers eat more at fixed-price buffets than when they pay à la carte. Economists have been saying for years that the same kind of behavior goes on in the federal Medicare program for seniors and the disabled. Supplemental “Medigap” plans shield millions from Medicare’s deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs. Pay a flat Medigap premium […]
Maryland’s Bold Hospital Spending Plan Gets Federal Blessing
Maryland officials have reached what analysts say is an unprecedented deal to limit medical spending and abandon decades of expensively paying hospitals for each extra procedure they perform. If the plan works, Maryland hospitals will be financially rewarded for keeping people out of the hospital — a once unimaginable arrangement. “This is without any question […]
Congress Is Poised To Change Medicare Payment Policy. What Does That Mean For Patients And Doctors?
After years of legislative wrangling and last-minute patches, expectations are high among physician groups, lawmakers and Medicare beneficiaries that Congress could act this year to permanently replace the current Medicare physician payment formula. While committees in both chambers have approved their own “doc fix” proposals, the approaches have yet to be reconciled, and none have […]
As HHS Moves To End Overload Of Medicare Claims Appeals, Beneficiaries Will Get Top Priority
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with Medicare beneficiaries who have been waiting months and even years for a hearing on their appeals for coverage may soon get a break as their cases take top priority in an effort to remedy a massive backlog. Nancy Griswold, the chief judge of the Office of Medicare […]
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. Sen. Wyden (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) If Congress is ever going to overhaul Medicare, it will almost certainly have to happen this […]
Hill Plan Would Reward Medicare Doctors For Quality
Updated 5:00 a.m. on Feb. 7 Now comes the hard part. After negotiating for months over how to overhaul Medicare’s troubled payment system for physicians, the bipartisan leadership of three Senate and House committees has reached a deal on the policy. Their next task could be even harder – finding a way to finance repeal […]
States Accelerate Shift Of Nursing Home Residents Into Medicaid Managed Care
This story was produced in collaboration with WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Inside his family’s trailer home, Israel Cortes sits in his bomber jacket at the kitchen table, doing his best to talk despite the tracheotomy tube in his throat. Israel Cortes, 60, at his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. Cortes is part of […]