U.S. health care costs are among the world's highest, and 1 in 4 adults with health coverage struggle with high out-of-pocket costs, a new survey shows.
The survey -- by the Commonwealth Fund, a health-care focused think tank -- finds that most people have coverage offer...
Hospice care is a compassionate and heartfelt enterprise, involving a medical team dedicated to maintaining a person’s comfort and dignity as they face the final curtain.
No...
A simple tweak in available vial sizes of the breakthrough Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi could save Medicare hundreds of millions of doll...
About 6.5 million “Near Dual” seniors are struggling to afford long-term care as they grow older and more frail, a new study warns.
“Near Dual” seniors are those who are eligible for Medicare but are only at the cusp of eligibility for Medicaid, t...
New Medicare rules could make 3.6 million Americans -- or even more -- eligible for treatment with the pricey weight-loss drug Wegovy, a new study finds.
Under the new rules, the...
The Biden administration said Thursday that it has signed deals with drug companies that will lower the prices on 10 of the most popular and expensive drugs used by American seniors.
Taxpayers should save $6 billion because of the new prices, while seniors using Medicare...
Older voters are keenly interested in the cost of health care, a new survey has found.
Five of the top six health issues among older adults have to do with health care costs, according to new data from the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging.
Having private insurance may not be all it is cracked up to be when it comes to hospital bills, new research warns.
In a report published Monday by the nonprofit research institute RAND Corp., resear...
A budget-busting 3.6 million Medicare recipients could now be eligible for coverage of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, a new KFF analysis says.
That's because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Wegovy (semaglutide) to reduce the risk of
An overwhelming majority of older Americans think health insurers and Medicare should cover the cost of weight-loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound, a new survey has found.
More than four out of five older adul...
As people age, health issues tend to mount, but roughly a quarter of low-income adults over 65 have no medical insurance.
That's the age when most Americans become eligible for Medicare, the federal health insurance for seniors. But many of the uninsured seniors are Hisp...
The Biden administration on Tuesday named the first 10 medicines that will be subject to price negotiations between Medicare and participating drug companies.
The list represents the first step in a landmark program aimed at reducing the government's drug spending, and p...
U.S. seniors with mental health needs may not have much access to psychiatrists who could help them, new research shows.
Despite an overall heightened demand for mental health services, nearly two-thirds of Medicare Advantage psychiatrist networks included less than 25%...
A new study shows that older Americans with health issues are now staying with their Medicare Advantage managed plans, rather than swapping them for traditional plans through a health insurer.
Although Medicare Advantage has been criticized in the past for "cherry-pickin...
The so-called "Medicaid cliff" is a perennial threat for millions of American seniors whose incomes put them just above the poverty line.
While impoverished seniors often have Medicaid to help cover their health care expenses, seniors who make just a little bit more hav...
Do all patients get the same amount of face-to-face time when visiting their primary care doctor?
Apparently not, claims a new study that found Black and Hispanic patients -- as well as patients with public health insurance like Medicaid or Medicare -- tend to get the s...
Without dental coverage, many American seniors on Medicare stop getting the fillings and crowns they may need, a new study finds.
The result isn't pretty.
"Without dental coverage for adults who are eligible [for] Medicare, we are seeing a rise in loss of teeth aft...
Out-of-pocket costs can leave Medicare patients with the most common type of liver cancer in financial distress.
While Medicare payments in the first year after diagnosis with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exceeded $65,000, out-of-pocket costs were more than $10,000,
The U.S. government could save billions every year once Medicare begins negotiating drug prices in 2026, new research suggests.
The Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress ...
The number of Americans who had trouble paying their medical bills dropped precipitously between 2019 and 2021, and funds from the American Rescue Plan and other federal pandemic relief programs may have been a reason why.
Overall, 10.8% of Americans responding to a fede...
Medicare Advantage ads that are confusing or misleading could be banned under a new rule that was proposed Wednesday by the Biden administration to protect seniors.
Nearly half of all seniors or people with disabilities who are enrolled in the Medicare program through th...
Costs for epilepsy medications in the United States are skyrocketing, outpacing inflation and straining federal insurers Medicare and Medicaid, according to new research.
Spending on antiseizure medications more than doubled in eight years for the government insurers, la...
Your chances of surviving cancer could depend on the type of Medicare plan you have, a new study reports.
Americans enrolled in a privatized, cost-saving Medicare Advantage plan are more likely to die within a month of undergoing complex cancer surgery, compared to those...
About 88 nursing homes in the United States are on a watch list for worrisome care that puts residents in danger, but now they will face tougher penalties for any ...
Dental coverage under Medicare could soon start expanding for seniors under a new proposal from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Still, the propos...
Millions of seniors who had to pay high increases in Medicare premiums this year will get a break in 2023 when they see a rare drop in monthly premiums for Medicare Part B.
Th...
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, making it the most significant health care legislation enacted in more than a decade.
How will it affec...
The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to bring out-of-pocket drug costs down for many U.S. seniors, but most of its benefits aren't immediate.
Under the law, Medicare will now be allowed to negotiate the cost of some drugs. That should eventually bring down out-of-pock...
Annual wellness visits covered by Medicare reduce diabetes patients' risk of amputation by more than one-third, a new study finds.
"Our results confirmed our hypothesis that Annual Wellnes...
Coverage for eligible, necessary care is denied each year to tens of thousands of seniors with private Medicare Advantage plans, U.S. federal investigators say.
In a report released Thursda...
One in five Medicare recipients use medical marijuana and two-thirds say it should be covered by Medicare, a new survey reveals.
Medical marijuana is legal in 37 states, four...
Medicare announced Thursday that it will limit its coverage of the pricey new drug Aduhelm to Alzheimer's patients enrolled in clinical trials of the drug.
Approved amid controvers...
Medicare announced Monday that seniors can now walk into most drug stores and get a free over-the-counter COVID test.
"For the first time in its history, Medicare is paying for an over-the-counter test," Deputy Administrator Dr. Meena Seshamani, director of the Center fo...
Medicare will soon provide up to eight free COVID rapid tests a month to seniors enrolled in the government health insurance program, the Biden administration announced Thursday.
California lawmakers must vote by Monday on whether to keep a bill to create a universal health care system moving forward.
Monday, Jan. 31, is the last chance for Califor...
Your heart is in an incredibly vulnerable state if you've suffered a heart attack or are fighting heart failure, and cardiac rehabilitation could be an important part of your recovery.
Unfortunately, not enough older folks appear to be taking advantage of this life-savin...
Home COVID tests are now available at no cost to most Americans, as part of the Biden administration's effort to increase testing around the United States.
U.S. insurers are paying millions of dollars a year to cover the cost of ivermectin for COVID-19 patients despite a lack of proof the anti-parasitic drug is effective against the virus, a new study finds.
Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Or...
It's a move that could severely limit the number of people taking the controversial new Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm: Medicare on Tuesday proposed to only cover the cost of the pricey medication for people enrolled in approved clinical trials.
A final decision on coverage ...
Medicare has been told to reassess a significant premium increase it had announced that largely stemmed from the expensive new Alzheimer's drug
Following a months-long and unprecedented review, Medicare officials expect to announce within the next couple of weeks whether the program will cover the controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm. The drug's benefits are in question and its annual price tag tops $28,000.
T...
The maker of the pricey new Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm (aducanumab) said Monday it will slash the cost of its medication in half, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
The move follows widespread criticism of the drug's original $56,000-a-year price tag.
The reduction in the whole...
"Medicare For All" gets tossed around a lot by advocates of universal health coverage, but a new study finds that today's Medicare is far from free for seniors and people with disabilities.
Instead, a large number of beneficiaries are sliding into medical debt and delayi...
President Joe Biden promised cheaper prescription drugs for all Americans on Monday as his social agenda legislation winds its way through Congress.
Biden tried to shift Americans' focus to pocketbook provisions overlooked in his $2 trillion legislation, which deals with...
Nearly 13 million U.S. adults a year skip or delay filling needed prescriptions due to high price tags, new research shows.
This figure includes more than 2.3 million Medicare beneficiaries and 3.8 million privately insured working-age adults who didn't get needed medica...
A new and expensive Alzheimer's drug called Aduhelm is responsible for about half of the $21.60 increase in monthly premiums for Medicare's Part B outpatient program in 2022, Medicare officials report.
The new premium will be $170.10 a month, and the $21.60 boost is the ...
A measure designed to lower prescription drug costs for seniors has been added to President Joe Biden's social safety net and climate change bill that Democratic leaders hope to bring to a House vote this week.
For the first time, the measure would enable the federal gov...
Nearly one-third of older U.S. adults visit at least five different doctors each year -- reflecting the growing role of specialists in Americans' health care, a new study finds.
Over the past 20 years, Americans on Medicare have been increasingly seeing specialists, rese...
American cancer patients spent more than $21 billion on their care in 2019, a new report shows.
That $21.09 billion included out-of-pocket costs of $16.22 billion and patient time costs of $4.87 billion. Patient time costs are the value of the time patients spend traveli...
Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 could now face thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical costs, according to a new report.
In 2020, most health insurance companies waived co-pays, deductibles and other cost-sharing for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but many st...