Why does health care cost so much in the US? It is not because we use more services than people in other countries. It’s the prices, the prescription drug prices, the hospital prices and the...
Diane Archer
Could you pay more in Medicare Advantage than traditional...
Many people with Medicare opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, a commercial insurance plan that contracts with Medicare to deliver Medicare benefits, because they believe it will save them money over...
Medicare ratings of Medicare Advantage plans a farce
Back in January 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sanctioned Cigna for threatening the health and safety of its members in Medicare Advantage plans. But, notwithstanding...
Don’t trust your health plan’s provider directory
Traditional Medicare’s “one size fits all” approach offers a wide choice of doctors and hospitals at a predictable cost, for which you can budget. With commercial insurance, be it...
For your mental health, feed your brain
The New York Times reports on nutritional psychiatrists who advise people to eat as little processed foods, meat and dairy products as possible in order to ease anxiety and mild depression. Instead...
Nearly half of older households have no retirement savings
A new GAO report, based on a Survey of Consumer Finances from 2017, finds that nearly half of all households headed by someone 55 or older in the US have no retirement savings. Most households have...
Will over-the-counter hearing aids help people with Medicare?
Medicare does not cover hearing aids. But, more than 20 million people with Medicare suffer from hearing loss. Most of them cannot afford to go to the audiologist and buy hearing aids out of pocket...
People with Medicare and Medicaid in Special Needs Plans at...
A paper in Health Affairs by Marc A. Cohen et al. explains that people with Medicare and Medicaid, “dual-eligibles,” enrolled in commercial Medicare Special Needs Plans, a type of...
Medicare for America helps commercial health insurers
Dylan Dusseault, Executive Director of Business Initiative for Health Policy, explains that presidential candidates Beto O’Rourke and Kirsten Gillibrand are helping out commercial health...
How high will health care prices go?
The incentives are aligned among health care providers and insurers–they all prosper when provider rates rise. Not surprisingly, doctor and hospital rates have risen significantly over the last...