Doctors Ponder Delicate Talks As Medicare Pays For End-Of-Life Counsel
Physicians can now bill Medicare $86 for up to 30 minutes of counseling given to patients about end-of-life planning, but many doctors may need training to have those talks.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
881 - 900 of 1,573 Results
Physicians can now bill Medicare $86 for up to 30 minutes of counseling given to patients about end-of-life planning, but many doctors may need training to have those talks.
When people retire from federal government jobs, they can keep their federal plan as primary coverage but may face penalties for late Medicare sign-ups later on.
A new policy preserves Cigna鈥檚 access to bonuses while the insurer fixes 鈥渨idespread鈥 failures in its Medicare plans.
Regulators unveiled a two-part plan that will change payments and test ways in which the Medicare Part B program can change the incentives that some policy experts say encourage doctors to choose higher-cost medications.
New research from the Dartmouth Atlas Project identifies areas where older patients get care that doesn鈥檛 meet guidelines or their own goals.
The share of Medicare Advantage members enrolled in plans with high star ratings has almost doubled since 2013, earning bonuses for private insurers who offer them.
Medicare offers star ratings of agencies鈥 quality and of patients鈥 perceptions, but often they don鈥檛 match up.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says access to special, lower-cost pharmacies has improved for Medicare beneficiaries in urban areas.
The first set of measures focus on seven types of care, including for hearts and cancer. The metrics will be integrated into formulas that determine physicians鈥 pay.
A Medicare trial aimed at averting billing fraud and waste in nonemergency ambulance service in eight states is drawing complaints from patients鈥 families and ambulance companies.
Congress left it to states to determine whether private Medigap plans are sold to the more than 9 million disabled people younger than 65 who qualify for Medicare. The result: rules vary across the country.
California cities increasingly are billing patients for paramedic services that they say were not covered by insurers. One 85-year-old woman took on city hall.
Doctors, insurers and others are kick-starting experiments to broaden access to direct primary care, a service long associated with only wealthy Americans.
The website Inf贸rmate offers resources and information to help dispel cultural myths that may keep Latinos from becoming live kidney donors.
The goal is to improve health and potentially reduce spending.
The health law waived Medicare鈥檚 Part B deductible and dropped the 20 percent copayment for the preventive tests.
Medicare faces sharp cost increases as more baby boomers reach 65, and their life expectancies grow, as well as their chronic conditions, say researchers at the University of Southern California.
More than half of these hospitals were also punished last year as the government tries to leverage taxpayer money to improve the quality of care.
Through what鈥檚 known as a drug waiver, state officials will have new spending flexibility as they try to improve outcomes and reduce social and financial costs of people with substance abuse disorders.
漏 2026 麻豆女优