April 1, 2024
(USA Today) – If the Koncaks’ struggles with health care costs as older adults sound familiar, it’s because they are. Even with insurance, Americans struggle to pay for expenses like premiums, copayments, coinsurance, and uncovered health services. As a result, … Read More
March 29, 2024
March 28, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – The first major U.S. health insurers have agreed to start paying for the popular anti-obesity drug Wegovy for certain people on Medicare with heart-related conditions. CVS Health, Elevance Healthand Kaiser Permanente said they would cover Novo … Read More
March 27, 2024
(KFF News) – The toll the American health care system extracts is, in some respects, the price of extraordinary progress in medicine. But it’s also evidence of the poor fit between older adults’ capacities and the health care system’s demands. … Read More
March 27, 2024
March 25, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – Historically, dentistry and medicine have operated as parallel fields: Dentists take care of the mouth, physicians the rest of the body. That is starting to change as many initiatives across the United States and other countries work … Read More
March 25, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Hospitals are adding billions of dollars in facility fees to medical bills for routine care in outpatient centers they own. Once an annoyance, the fees are now pervasive, and in some places they are becoming nearly … Read More
March 22, 2024
(NPR) – For the first time, Medicare will allow coverage of one of the new blockbuster weight-loss drugs for enrollees in Part D plans. The plans may now cover Wegovy when prescribed to prevent heart attacks and strokes, according to … Read More
March 20, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Steward Health Care System, which operates the hospital, brought in a pest-control company, which discovered another 3,000 or so Brazilian free-tailed and evening bats in the building. “That’s been a known issue,” said retired nurse Vonnay … Read More
March 20, 2024
(CNN) – A new gene therapy for the fatal genetic disorder metachromatic leukodystrophy, or MLD, will carry a wholesale price of $4.25 million, its manufacturer announced Wednesday, making it the world’s most expensive medicine. Lenmeldy was approved by the US … Read More
March 20, 2024
(Axios) – UnitedHealth Group is facing growing class-action lawsuits from health care providers over financial losses they say they’ve suffered from a massive cyberattack that’s crippled payments across the industry for weeks. Why it matters: It adds to the potential … Read More
March 20, 2024
March 15, 2024
(New York Times) – Should your insurance company be allowed to stop you from getting a treatment — even if your doctor says it’s necessary? Doctors are often required to get insurance permission before providing medical care. This process is … Read More
March 15, 2024
(NPR) – Doctors have long complained about how the prior authorization process gets in the way of delivering care to patients. Insurance companies say the point is to make sure doctors prescribe the most cost effective treatments. States are responding … Read More
March 15, 2024
March 14, 2024
March 13, 2024
(New York Times) – H3C is just one of many examples showing that health care systems are increasingly starting to see benefits in building affordable and safe housing, from the improved health of local communities to how much managed care … Read More
March 11, 2024
(Associated Press) – Doctors around the country say UnitedHealthcare and other insurers have made it harder to get coverage for certain home ventilators that patients like Armant need as their lungs fail. They say patients often must struggle first with … Read More
March 11, 2024
(Axios) – Disruptions from the Change Healthcare cyberattack are costing health providers as much as $1 billion a day and creating enough of a drag to depress first-quarter earnings, analysts and industry officials say. Why it matters: Even though Change’s … Read More
March 8, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – More healthcare groups are charging fees to answer patients’ electronic messages, often the ones you exchange via their portal. Doctors say it’s only fair if they’re spending time on the messages and note that an email … Read More
March 5, 2024
(KFF Health News) – A Maryland firm that oversees the nation’s largest independent network of primary care medical practices is facing a whistleblower lawsuit alleging it cheated Medicare out of millions of dollars using billing software “rigged” to make patients … Read More
March 5, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – “I have no brothers or sisters to take turns with me,” says Lori, 49. Lori is an only child. The family type is becoming more common, with about 22% of women at the end of their … Read More
March 5, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Employers that embraced paying for weight-loss drugs are now reckoning with the high costs, forcing growing numbers to dial back or cut off their reimbursement because they can’t afford it. The companies are putting in place … Read More
March 4, 2024
(New York Times) – Indiana’s social services agency has announced plans to end the caregiver program, citing a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the state Medicaid budget. By July 1, parents and guardians caring for children and spouses caring for … Read More
February 29, 2024
(CBS News) – The hospital where Rashid gave birth, St. Elizabeth’s, is one of dozens of hospitals across the U.S. acquired in the past 15 years by a company called Steward Health Care. With hundreds of millions of dollars in … Read More
