Aging

Starting immediately, the federal government is making it harder for nursing homes to get top grades on a public report card, in part by increasing scrutiny of their use of anti-psychotic drugs and raising the bar on an array of quality measures. Those grades – in the form of one- to five-star ratings – are […]

VISALIA, Calif. — In the farming town of Exeter, deep in California’s Central Valley, Anne Roberson walks a quarter mile down the road each day to her mailbox. Her walk and housekeeping chores are the 68-year-old’s only exercise, and her weight has remained stubbornly over 200 pounds for some time now. “You get to a […]

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When my mother, Pauline, was 70, she lost her sense of balance. She started walking with an odd shuffling gait, taking short steps and barely lifting her feet off the ground. She often took my hand, holding it and squeezing my fingers. Pauline Rabin with granddaughters Emma and Aviva Rabin-Court near the C&O Canal in […]

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Starting next year, the federal government will require health insurers to give millions of Americans enrolled in  Medicare Advantage plans or in policies sold in the federally run health exchange up-to-date details about which doctors are in their plans and taking new patients. Medicare Advantage plans and most exchange plans restrict coverage to a network […]

Listen to this story as it aired on NPR: >>Can’t see the player? Click here to download it.  https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/03/20150310_me_with_medicare_pay_on_the_line_hospitals_push_harder_to_please_patients_.mp3 SALISBURY, N.C. — Lillie Robinson came to Rowan Medical Center for surgery on her left foot. She expected to be in and out in a day, returning weeks later for her surgeon to operate on the other […]

Medicare officials are considering changes in the hospice benefit to stop the federal government from paying twice for care given to dying patients. But patient advocates and hospice providers fear a new policy could make the often difficult decision to move into hospice care even tougher. Patients are eligible for hospice care when doctors determine […]

For many older people and their families, particularly those dealing with conditions such as Alzheimer’s or cancer that often require long-term, pricey medical care, running out of money is a nagging concern. Families are right to be worried, according to a new study that analyzed data from nearly 1,200 people who died between 2010 and […]

LOCKHART, Texas — The call from the nursing home came just before dawn, jolting Martha Sherwood awake. During the night, fire ants had swarmed over her 85-year-old mother, injecting their stinging venom into Natalie Sealy’s face, arms, hands and chest. Natalie Sealy (Photo courtesy of Billie Pender) “She was just lying there being eaten alive,” […]