May 21 As they lay dying: Medicare rules rob voiceless ALS patients of the ability to communicate By Philip Moeller In early 2014, Medicare changed some of its rules and effectively took away the ability of many people with ALS to communicate. Despite upcoming changes, the current limitations are still being felt by patients and their families. Continue reading
May 02 Watch 5:24 Why are Baltimore teens in poorer health than those in urban Nigeria? By PBS News Hour In the Baltimore neighborhood of Sandtown, the infant mortality rate is more than than six times the national average, and life expectancy is more than a decade lower than in the rest of the country. And the health outlook is… Continue watching
May 01 Medicare reveals how much it spends on prescription drugs for Americans By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News The data show that 14 drugs cost the federal government and Medicare beneficiaries more than $1 billion each, accounting for nearly a quarter of Medicare prescription drug spending in 2013. Most of those drugs are used to treat chronic conditions… Continue reading
Apr 08 Loony Medicare rules can turn a hospital visit into a costly adventure By Philip Moeller Whether your visit to a hospital is considered a formal admission or an observational stay is hugely important, because Medicare pays a whole lot less for observational stays. This is true even if the actual care a person receives in… Continue reading
Apr 05 Tax refunds for many take hit or get bump from health law By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press As the April 15 tax deadline nears, people who got help paying for health insurance under President Barack Obama's law are seeing the direct effect on their refunds - hundreds of dollars, for better or worse. Continue reading
Apr 01 What Medicare could do to get you lower drug prices By Philip Moeller Medicare has zillions of rules. But there's one more that columnist Philip Moeller would like to see adopted. Right now, Medicare beneficiaries are pawns in the drug pricing system, and plenty of Americans don't take the drugs they need because… Continue reading
Mar 25 Who loses from a permanent Medicare doc fix? By Philip Moeller Making Sen$e Medicare columnist Phil Moeller is excited about the possibility of a bipartisan breakthrough in Congress, and on the years-long fight over the Medicare "doc fix" no less. But someone, he explains, will have to pay for the impending… Continue reading
Mar 24 Uninsured down more than 11 million since passage of Obama's health care law, CDC reports By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press WASHINGTON — The number of uninsured U.S. residents fell by more than 11 million since President Barack Obama signed the health care overhaul five years ago, according to a pair of reports Tuesday from the federal Centers for Disease Control… Continue reading
Feb 28 Consumers frustrated by government error on health care tax forms By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press The government sent nearly one million consumers erroneous information on forms that they need to complete their 2014 tax returns. Now they're getting robocalls and emails advising them to delay filing until the mistakes get fixed. Continue reading
Feb 24 Administration: No quick fix if court kills health subsidies By Alan Fram, Associated Press President Barack Obama's health secretary told Congress Tuesday that there is no administrative action that would fix the "massive damage to our health care system" that would result should the Supreme Court invalidate federal subsidies that help millions of Americans… Continue reading