Medicare upgrades its website ahead of sign-up season
Approaching annual sign-up season, Medicare is modernizing its website to make it more useful for beneficiaries already accustomed to searching online for insurers, hospitals and doctors, officials...
View ArticleUptick in Social Security checks for 2019 as inflation rises
Tens of millions of Social Security recipients and other retirees will get a 2.8 percent boost in benefits next year as inflation edges higher. It's the biggest increase most retired baby boomers have...
View ArticleStudy: Without Medicaid expansion, poor forgo medical care
Low-income people in states that haven't expanded Medicaid are much more likely to forgo needed medical care than the poor in other states, according to a government report released Monday amid...
View ArticleInsurer Anthem will pay record $16M for massive data breach
The nation's second-largest health insurer has agreed to pay the government a record $16 million to settle potential privacy violations in the biggest known health care hack in U.S. history, officials...
View ArticleMedicare expands access to in-home support for seniors
In a harbinger of potentially big changes for Medicare, seniors in many states will be able to get additional services such as help with chores, safety devices and respite for caregivers next year...
View ArticleReport: U.S. health spending hits $3.5T but growth slows
The nation's health care tab hit $3.5 trillion last year, or $10,739 per person, the government reported. But behind those staggering figures was some fairly good news.
View ArticleHealth law sign-ups lagging as Saturday deadline is looming
Health insurance sign-ups for the Affordable Care Act are down with just a few days left to enroll, even though premiums are stable, consumers have more choice and millions of uninsured people can...
View ArticleJudge’s ruling on ‘Obamacare’ poses new problems for GOP
A federal judge's ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans, who've seen the politics of health care flip as Americans increasingly value the...
View ArticleRenewed battle over using fetal tissue in medical research
Lawmakers clashed over science, ethics and politics at a House hearing on using fetal tissue in critically important medical research, as the Trump administration reviews the government's ongoing...
View ArticleObama health law sign-ups beat forecast despite headwinds
The Affordable Care Act has yet again beaten predictions of its downfall, as government figures released Wednesday showed unexpectedly solid sign-ups for coverage next year.
View ArticleTrump order aims to disclose ‘real’ costs for health care
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that calls for upfront disclosure by hospitals of actual prices for common tests and procedures to keep costs down.
View ArticleJudge strikes down rule requiring drug ads to reveal prices
A federal judge Monday blocked a major White House initiative on prescription drug costs, saying the Trump administration lacked the legal authority to require drugmakers to disclose their prices in TV...
View ArticleCongress has ambitious agenda tackling health care costs
Lawmakers are trying to set aside their irreconcilable differences over the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and work to reach bipartisan agreement on a more immediate health care issue, lowering costs...
View ArticleWhite House yanks drug ‘rebate’ plan to ease costs for some
President Donald Trump is withdrawing a plan to ease the financial bite of costly medications for people on Medicare by letting them receive rebates that drugmakers now pay to insurers and middlemen,...
View ArticleSenators unveil compromise to reduce drug costs for seniors
Two senior senators – a Republican and a Democrat – unveiled compromise legislation Tuesday to reduce prescription drug costs for millions of Medicare recipients, while saving money for federal and...
View ArticleU.S. to set up plan allowing prescription meds from Canada
The Trump administration said Wednesday it will create a way for Americans to legally and safely import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada for the first time, reversing years of refusals by...
View ArticleRise in health uninsured may be linked to immigrants’ fears
When the Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of people without health insurance in America, it sent political partisans reaching for talking points on the Obama-era health law and its...
View ArticleOverhaul is proposed for decades-old Medicare fraud rules
The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed overhauling decades-old Medicare rules originally meant to deter fraud and abuse but now seen as a roadblock to coordinating better care for patients.
View ArticleRetiree checks to rise modestly amid push to expand benefits
Millions of retirees will get a modest 1.6% cost-of-living increase from Social Security in 2020, an uptick with potential political consequences in an election year when Democrats are pushing more...
View ArticleAppeals court skeptical of Trump’s Medicaid work rules
A federal appeals court on Friday sharply questioned the Trump administration's work requirements for Medicaid recipients, casting doubt on a key part of a governmentwide effort to place conditions on...
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