Aging
Adultos mayores se sienten “atrapados” en planes de Medicare Advantage
En 2016, Richard Timmins fue a un seminario informativo gratuito para aprender más sobre la cobertura de Medicare. “Escuché al agente de seguros y, básicamente, hizo publicidad de Medicare Advantage”, dijo Timmins. El agente describió la cobertura menos costosa y más amplia que ofrecen los planes, financiados en gran parte por el gobierno, pero administrados […]
Older Americans Say They Feel Trapped in Medicare Advantage Plans
In 2016, Richard Timmins went to a free informational seminar to learn more about Medicare coverage. “I listened to the insurance agent and, basically, he really promoted Medicare Advantage,” Timmins said. The agent described less expensive and broader coverage offered by the plans, which are funded largely by the government but administered by private insurance […]
‘I Am Just Waiting to Die’: Social Security Clawbacks Drive Some Into Homelessness
More than a year after the federal government first cut off her disability benefits, Denise Woods drives nightly to strip malls, truck stops, and parking lots around Savannah, Georgia, looking for a safe place to sleep in her Chevy. Woods, 51, said she had rented a three-bedroom house she shared with her adult son and […]
‘Financial Ruin Is Baked Into the System’: Readers on the Costs of Long-Term Care
Thousands of readers reacted to the articles in the “Dying Broke” series about the financial burden of long-term care in the United States. They offered their assessments for the government and market failures that have drained the lifetime savings of so many American families. And some offered possible solutions. In more than 4,200 comments, readers […]
‘Until It Is Fixed’: Congress Ramps Up Action on Social Security Clawbacks
The Senate Finance Committee is ramping up oversight of Social Security’s overpayment problem and plans to meet with the agency every month “until it is fixed.” The Social Security Administration assured lawmakers in the past that it had been addressed, but “what you all found in your reporting is that the problem hadn’t been fixed,” […]
People With Disabilities Hope Autonomous Vehicles Deliver Independence
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. ― Myrna Peterson predicts self-driving vehicles will be a ticket out of isolation and loneliness for people like her, who live outside big cities and have disabilities that prevent them from driving. Peterson, who has quadriplegia, is an enthusiastic participant in an unusual test of autonomous vehicles in this corner of northern […]
Dodging the Medicare Enrollment Deadline Can Be Costly
Angela M. Du Bois, a retired software tester in Durham, North Carolina, wasn’t looking to replace her UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan. She wasn’t concerned as the Dec. 7 deadline approached for choosing another of the privately run health insurance alternatives to original Medicare. But then something caught her attention: When she went to her doctor […]
Watch: The Long-Term Care Crisis: Why Few Can Afford to Grow Old in America
For many in America, especially people in the middle class, old age is a daily struggle to keep up with basic activities. For some, the trials of dementia add to the emotional and financial burden for loved ones and caregivers. Long-term care options — assisted living, home care, or full-time family care — are costly, […]
These Programs Put Unused Prescription Drugs in the Hands of Patients in Need
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — On a recent November evening, Angie Phoenix waited at a pharmacy here in Colorado’s second-largest city to pick up prescription drugs to treat her high blood pressure and arm seizures. But this transaction was different from typical exchanges that occur every day at thousands of pharmacies across the United States. The […]
Social Security Clawbacks Hit a Million More People Than Agency Chief Told Congress
The Social Security Administration has demanded money back from more than 2 million people a year — more than twice as many people as the head of the agency disclosed at an October congressional hearing. That’s according to a document KFF Health News and Cox Media Group obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. […]