The federal government's effort to penalize hospitals for excessive patient readmissions is ending its first decade with Medicare cutting payments to nearly half the nation's hospitals. In its 10th annual round of penalties, Medicare is reducing its payments to 2,499 hospitals, or 47% of all facilities. The average penalty is a 0.64% reduction in payment […]
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Nurses’ Union ‘Dismayed’ Over Halted Medicare Drug Price Cuts
Based on early results in Congress, legislation to lower drug prices envisioned by President Joe Biden as part of his $3.5 trillion Build Back Better social-spending plan may not be an easy sell. As part of Biden’s agenda unveiled last month, the plan would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers to reduce prescription […]
Medicare payment patterns examined for hip fracture surgery
Reimbursement for hospital charges is increasing faster than payments for surgeons performing hip fracture surgeries on Medicare beneficiaries, according to a study published online March 9 in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. Dennis Q. Chen, M.D., from the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, and colleagues evaluated trends and variations in hospital charges and […]
Sleep apnea treatment linked to lower risk of Alzheimer's and other dementias
A new study finds older adults who received positive airway pressure therapy prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia. Researchers from Michigan Medicine's Sleep Disorders Centers analyzed Medicare claims of more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older who had been diagnosed with […]
New Medicare benefit would limit insulin copays to $35 a month
Reacting to skyrocketing prices for insulin, the Trump Administration announced on Tuesday a new benefit that would limit Medicare recipients’ copays for insulin to a maximum of $35 a month and save them about $446 a year if they have prescription plans that offer the benefit. Instead of the fluctuating copay amounts that are common […]
Medicare for All unlikely to cause surge in hospital use
As political leaders debate the merits of a future Medicare for All system in the U.S., some analysts predict that implementing universal coverage could cause a sharp, unaffordable increase in hospital use and costs, overwhelming the system. But new research by a team at Harvard Medical School and The City University of New York at […]
Removing Medicare exclusion would improve prisoner health
An expert in prisoner health from The University of Western Australia is calling for the Federal Government to stop excluding prisoners from Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to improve health outcomes and close the gap for Aboriginal people. In an article published in the Journal of Law and Medicine Research Fellow Craig Cumming, […]
Prostate cancer care for older men estimated to cost Medicare $1.2 billion
Researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center estimate that screening for and treating prostate cancer in men aged 70 years or older, which is not recommended by national guidelines, cost Medicare more than $1.2 billion over a three year period for each group of men diagnosed in the United States each […]
Guideline-Discordant Prostate Cancer Imaging Up With Medicare
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 12, 2018 — Patients with prostate cancer receiving care in a Medicare-only setting are more likely to receive guideline-discordant imaging, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Network Open. Danil V. Makarov, M.D., from New York University School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues examined the correlation between […]
Genetic Testing for Cancer Lacking for Women on Medicare: Study
FRIDAY, Aug. 17, 2018 — Testing for gene mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancer is rare among some Medicare patients who have the cancers and qualify for such tests, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from 12 southeastern states between 2000 and 2014. Only 8 percent of 92 women who met Medicare criteria […]