Seeking to Shift Costs to Medicare, More Employers Move Retirees to Advantage Plans
Private and public employers are increasingly using the government鈥檚 Medicare Advantage program as an alternative to their existing retiree health plan and traditional Medicare coverage. As a result, the federal government is paying the 鈥渙verwhelming majority鈥 of medical costs, according to an industry analyst.
Medicare Patients Win the Right to Appeal Gap in Nursing Home Coverage
If federal officials accept a court鈥檚 decision, some patients will get a chance to seek refunds for their nursing home and other expenses.
La inscripci贸n de Medicare es temporada abierta para estafadores
Funcionarios federales dicen que est谩n aumentando las quejas de personas mayores enga帽adas para que compren p贸lizas sin su consentimiento, o atra铆das por informaci贸n cuestionable, que pueden no cubrir sus medicamentos ni incluir a sus m茅dicos.
Medicare鈥檚 Open Enrollment Is Open Season for Scammers
Medicare officials say complaints are rising from seniors lured into private plans with misleading information or enrolled without their consent. In response, officials have threatened to penalize the private companies selling Medicare Advantage and drug plans if they or agents working on their behalf mislead consumers.
3 States Limit Nursing Home Profits in Bid to Improve Care
Following the devastating impact of covid-19 on nursing homes, state lawmakers want to be sure that government and private payments primarily go to improve care and staffing.
After Pandemic Ravaged Nursing Homes, New State Laws Protect Residents
This year, 23 states passed more than 70 pandemic-related provisions affecting nursing homes, including measures setting minimum staffing levels, expanding visitation protections and limiting owners鈥 profit margins.
Zooming Into the Statehouse: Nursing Home Residents Use New Digital Skills to Push for Changes
Connecticut residents who learned how to communicate with family and friends through digital technology when their nursing homes closed to visitors last year used that skill to testify remotely during legislative hearings on bills affecting them.
Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill
A Trump administration Medicare rule will push some hospital patients into a Catch-22: The government says several hundred procedures no longer need to be done in a hospital, but it did not approve them to be performed elsewhere. So patients will still need to use a hospital while not officially admitted 鈥 and may be charged more out-of-pocket for the care.
As Congress Weighs COVID Liability Protections, States Shield Health Providers
Under pressure from organizations representing doctors, nurses, hospitals and other care providers, a handful of states are offering them protections from civil lawsuits over medical treatment.
Federal Judge Rules Medicare Patients Can Challenge 鈥極bservation Care鈥 Status
Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to appeal hospitals鈥 decisions to classify them as 鈥渙bservation care鈥 patients instead of inpatients, under a ruling last week in a class action suit.
Website Errors Raise Calls For Medicare To Be Flexible With Seniors鈥 Enrollment
Members of Congress and others complain Medicare鈥檚 revamped Plan Finder had problems. Federal officials say they can help consumers who got bad information change their plans next year. But details about how switching will work are yet to come.
Medicare: comienza la inscripci贸n sin una herramienta popular para comparar precios
El viejo buscador de planes proporcionaba grandes ahorros, seg煤n expertos. Pero luego de un redise帽o, perdi贸 muchas de sus funciones clave.
As Medicare Enrollment Nears, Popular Price Comparison Tool Is Missing
For more than a decade, customers used the online plan finder to compare dozens of policies. Yet after a redesign of the website, the search results no longer list which plan offers a customer the best value. Federal officials say it will be fixed before enrollment begins next week.
Class-Action Lawsuit Seeks To Let Medicare Patients Appeal Gap in Nursing Home Coverage
Medicare beneficiaries under observation care in the hospital can face higher costs for treatment and are not covered for nursing home care when discharged. A federal trial in Hartford, Conn., will determine whether the government鈥檚 ban on appeals involving observation care coverage is fair.
Social Security Error Jeopardizes Medicare Coverage For 250,000 Seniors
The problem affects private drug policies and Medicare Advantage plans that provide both medical and drug coverage and substitute for traditional government-run Medicare. It could leave plan members without coverage.
Error del Seguro Social pone en riesgo cobertura de Medicare de 250,000 adultos mayores
El problema abarca a la cobertura de medicamentos recetados (Medicare parte D) y a los beneficiarios que tienen planes m茅dicos de Medicare Advantage.
Trumpeted New Medicare Advantage Benefits Will Be Hard For Seniors To Find
Federal officials are hailing the introduction of services such as transportation to medical appointments, home-delivered meals and installation of wheelchair ramps as a way to keep beneficiaries healthy and avoid costly hospitalizations. But not many plans are offering the services in 2019.
No More Secrets: Congress Bans Pharmacist 鈥楪ag Orders鈥 On Drug Prices
Congress approved two bills last month that prohibit provisions keeping pharmacists from telling patients when they can save money by paying the cash price instead of the price negotiated by their insurance plan.
New Medicare Advantage Tool To Lower Drug Prices Puts Crimp In Patients’ Choices
Federal officials are allowing the private insurance plans to use 鈥渟tep therapy鈥 for drugs administered by doctors. In step therapy, patients must first use cheaper drugs to see if they work before receiving more expensive options.
Medicamentos de Medicare pueden costar menos pagando en efectivo
Beneficiarios de Medicare pueden conseguir medicamentos m谩s baratos si pagan en efectivo… pero por reglas mordaza el farmac茅utico no puede decirlo.
