Latest 蘑菇影院 Health News Stories
Tiny, Rural Hospitals Feel the Pinch as Medicare Advantage Plans Grow
More than half of seniors are enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans instead of traditional Medicare. Rural enrollment has increased fourfold and many small-town hospitals say that threatens their viability.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl
Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large 鈥 often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohio鈥檚 November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Health Care 鈥楪ame-Changer鈥? Feds Boost Care for Homeless Americans
This month, the federal government started paying for treatments delivered outside hospitals and clinics, expanding funding for 鈥渟treet medicine鈥 teams that treat homeless patients. California led the way on the change, which could help sick and vulnerable patients get healthy, sober, and, in some cases, into housing.
Medicare Enrollees Can Switch Coverage Now. Here鈥檚 What鈥檚 New and What to Consider.
Fall is the time when enrollees in the federal program for older people and people with certain disabilities can make changes to their health and drug plans. The decision can be complicated, but here are some key points to keep in mind.
Es el momento de revisar el plan de Medicare. Lo nuevo que hay que saber
Desde el 15 de octubre y hasta el 7 de diciembre, los afiliados al programa tradicional o a los planes de Medicare Advantage, que ofrecen aseguradoras privadas, pueden cambiar su cobertura.
Feds Hope to Cut Sepsis Deaths by Hitching Medicare Payments to Treatment Stats
A new rule sets specific treatment metrics for suspected sepsis cases in an effort to reduce deaths, but some experts say the measures could add to antibiotic overuse and need to be more flexible.
Hospitales perder谩n reembolsos de Medicare si no combaten mejor la mortal sepsis
La sepsis es la respuesta extrema del organismo a una infecci贸n y afecta cada a帽o a 1,7 millones de adultos en Estados Unidos.
Feds Rein In Use of Predictive Software That Limits Care for Medicare Advantage Patients
Software sifts through millions of medical records to match patients with similar diagnoses and characteristics and then predicts what kind of care an individual will need and for how long. New federal rules will ensure human experts are part of the process.
New Medicare Advantage Plans Tailor Offerings to Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+
As more seniors opt for Medicare Advantage, a few small insurers have begun offering plans that provide culturally targeted benefits for cohorts including Asian Americans, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ people. The approach, policy researchers say, has potential and perils.
Nuevos planes de Medicare Advantage adaptan ofertas para asi谩ticos, latinos y LGTBQ+
A medida que Medicare Advantage gana popularidad entre los adultos mayores, tres compa帽铆as del sur de California est谩n lanzando nuevos planes que se enfocan en comunidades culturales y 茅tnicas, con ofertas especiales y profesionales que hablan su idioma nativo.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': More Medicaid Messiness
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It鈥檚 just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program鈥檚 pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join 蘑菇影院 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest 蘑菇影院 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient鈥檚 family for more than a year.
What Happens to Health Programs if the Federal Government Shuts Down?
Medicare and Medicaid shouldn鈥檛 be affected, but confusion can be expected.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Countdown to Shutdown
Congress appears to be careening toward a government shutdown, as a small band of House conservatives vow to block any funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 unless they win deeper cuts to health and other domestic programs. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump continues to roil the GOP presidential primary field, this time with comments about abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Tami Luhby of CNN join 蘑菇影院 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
Resurge la hepatitis C, 驴podr谩 el plan de Biden eliminar este viejo flagelo en cinco a帽os?
Se calcula que el 40% de los m谩s de 2 millones de personas con hepatitis C en Estados Unidos ni siquiera saben que la tienen, pero el virus puede estar da帽ando silenciosamente su h铆gado, causando cicatrices, insuficiencia hep谩tica o c谩ncer de h铆gado.
Hep C鈥檚 Number Comes Up: Can Biden鈥檚 5-Year Plan Eliminate the Longtime Scourge?
Before covid-19, hepatitis C held the distinction of claiming more American lives each year than any other infectious disease 鈥 that鈥檚 despite the marketing of several relatively affordable, highly effective treatments.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn鈥檛 much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.聽
Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile, over the recess, the Biden administration released the names of the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program.
Biden Administration Proposes New Standards to Boost Nursing Home Staffing
The proposal would require major hiring at the most sparsely staffed homes. But the proposal is already badly received by the nursing home industry, which claims it can鈥檛 boost wages enough to attract workers.
Tribal Health Workers Aren鈥檛 Paid Like Their Peers. See Why Nevada Changed That.
Community health workers, who often help patients get to their appointments and pick up prescriptions for them, have increasingly been recognized as an integral part of treating chronic illnesses. But state-run Medicaid programs don鈥檛 always reimburse them equally, usually excluding those who work on tribal lands.
A New Medicare Proposal Would Cover Training for Family Caregivers
The federal government is proposing having Medicare pay professionals to train family caregivers how to perform tasks like bathing and dressing their loved ones, and properly use medical equipment.
