Shopping for Medicare Advantage: 6 pitfalls to avoid

Only 3 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries shop around during open enrollment, according to a 2022 analysis from KFF, a health policy nonprofit — and only 1 in 10 Medicare Advantage enrollees voluntarily switch plans. But a 2020 analysis of Medicare Advantage plan choices by the National Bureau of...

Biden's Medicare price negotiation push is broadly popular. But he's not getting much credit

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trumpeting Medicare's new powers to negotiate directly with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications — but a poll shows that any immediate political boost that Biden gets for enacting the overwhelmingly popular policy may be limited. ...

Editorial Roundup: Minnesota

Mankato Free Press. September 10, 2023. Editorial: Common sense, not special session needed on school officer issue Confusion and conflicting views have muddied the waters on new rules under which school resource officers should operate, causing some agencies to pull...

Income too high for Medicaid? ‘Spend down’ to qualify

More than 1.4 million people have lost Medicaid coverage in 2023 because they no longer meet the eligibility requirements, according to August tracking data from KFF, a health policy nonprofit. After a pause on disenrollments during the COVID-19 public health emergency, beneficiaries...

Divorce after 60: What happens to your health benefits?

More than 1 in 3 people who divorce in the United States are age 50 or older, and 1 in 4 are 65 or older, according to a 2022 analysis published in the Journals of Gerontology. Divorcing as you near retirement — or after you’ve retired — comes with considerations: Are you (or...

10 drugs targeted for Medicare price negotiations as Biden pitches cost reductions

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden touted the potential cost savings of Medicare's first-ever price negotiations for widely used prescription drugs on Tuesday as he struggles to convince Americans that he’s improved their lives as he runs for reelection. The drugs include the...

Diabetes drug and blood thinner Eliquis among first 10 targeted for price negotiations in effort to cut Medicare costs

Insurers won't cover new Alzheimer's treatment for some customers

Some private insurers are balking at paying for the first drug fully approved to slow mental decline in Alzheimer’s patients. Insurers selling coverage in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York, among other states, told The Associated Press they won’t cover Leqembi with...

Health care provider to pay largest Medicare fraud settlement in Maine history

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Martin’s Point Health Care Inc. will pay nearly $22.5 million to resolve allegations of submitting inaccurate codes for Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees to increase Medicare reimbursements, federal prosecutors said Monday. The U.S. attorney’s office in...

Judge orders Montana health clinic to pay nearly $6 million over false asbestos claims

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination must pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages after it submitted hundreds of false asbestos claims, a judge ruled. The 337 false claims made patients eligible for...