Aging
How Proposed Part D Changes Are Playing On Capitol Hill
Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are proposing to remove some drugs from Medicare’s prescription drug plans and limit how many plans insurers can offer. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and CQ Roll Call’s Emily Ethridge discuss. >> Click here to listen to audio of the conversation. MARY AGNES CAREY: Welcome to Health […]
Medicare Officials Back Away From Changes To Prescription Drug Plan
Facing heavy bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill as well as from patient groups, businesses, insurers and others, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday it did not plan to move ahead “at this time” with several proposed changes to the Medicare prescription drug program. Photo by Paul Pellerito via Flickr The draft regulation, which had […]
UCLA Memory Program Offers ‘Gym For Your Brain’
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with Just as they had so many times during the past 60 years, Marianna and Albert Frankel stepped onto the dance floor. He took her hand in his, and smiling, waltzed her around the room. “I remembered how it used to be and we could really do the waltz […]
Rep. Ryan Quizzes Sebelius On Increased Savings Estimate From IPAB
The panel hasn’t had a meeting and no one’s even been nominated for it yet, but the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request says the health law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as IPAB, could save the government triple what officials estimated last year. Rep. Paul Ryan at a hearing on health care in 2010 […]
Lawmakers Weigh Changes To Medicare
Lawmakers this week debated a series of changes to Medicare — including payment shifts in Medicare Advantage plans and a proposed fix to how the program pays doctors. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn discuss. MARY AGNES CAREY: Welcome to Health on the Hill, I’m Mary Agnes Carey. Medicare has been a […]
A Reader Asks: Would An IRA Withdrawal Count As Income For Exchange Subsidies?
Q. Is a taxable withdrawal from an IRA counted as income? If someone lives entirely off his savings and does not qualify for subsidies on the health insurance marketplace because he has no income, could he withdraw $11,500 early from an IRA and count that as income? A. Withdrawals from traditional or rollover IRAs would […]
Cholesterol Guidelines Could Mean Statins For Half Of Adults Over 40
This story was produced in collaboration with When sweeping new advice on preventing heart attacks and strokes came out last November, it wasn’t clear how many more Americans should be taking daily statin pills to lower their risk. A new analysis provides an answer: a whole lot. Nearly 13 million more, to be precise. If the […]
Draft Rules Would Help Protect Seniors When Medicare Advantage Plans Drop Doctors
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with Federal officials are considering new Medicare Advantage rules to help protect seniors when insurers make significant reductions to their networks of doctors and other health care providers. The proposals follow UnitedHealthcare’s decision to drop thousands of doctors from its Medicare Advantage plans in at least 10 states […]
Permanent ‘Doc Fix’ May Be On Hold As House Passes Short-Term Patch
Your browser does not support the audio element. >> Click here to download audio of the conversation. MARY AGNES CAREY: Welcome to Health on the Hill. I’m Mary Agnes Carey. There was drama on the floor of the House of Representatives today. For the 17th time, Congress is on the verge of approving yet another […]
Top Boston Hospital Begins To Tackle Readmissions Problem
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a highly regarded teaching hospital in Boston, but in 2012, the hospital found out it had one of the highest rates of readmissions among Medicare patients in the country. That meant federal fines of more than $1 million—and a lot of soul searching for the staff, says Dr. Julius […]