We all know the expression, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” It is as true in the health care realm as everywhere else. Even I, a health care advocate, who thought I was on...
Diane Archer
Why enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan?
Millions of people with Medicare choose a Medicare Advantage plan, a commercial health plan that contracts with the government to deliver Medicare benefits, over traditional Medicare. Why enroll in...
Shouldn’t traditional Medicare have an out-of-pocket cap?
Why shouldn’t traditional Medicare have an out-of-pocket cap? It would eliminate the need for people in traditional Medicare to have supplemental coverage and it would put traditional Medicare...
What Trump will do about Part B drug prices
A new report by ASPE (Assistant Secretary for Evaluation and Planning), a research arm of the US Department of Health and Human Services, confirms that US drug prices for some of the...
Majority of Americans oppose GOP plan to slash Medicare...
A new NPR PBS Newshour Marist poll shows that a solid majority of Americans (60 percent), including Republicans, oppose the GOP plan to slash Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. To address the...
Inappropriate Medicare Advantage care denials appear widespread
A recent report from the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) raises serious concerns about inappropriate Medicare Advantage denials of care as well as wrongful payment denials. It shows that...
2018 Medicare Open Enrollment
Medicare Open Enrollment began on October 15 and runs through December 7. If you are enrolled in a Part D prescription drug plan or a Medicare Advantage plan, your out-pocket-costs and/or in-network...
Pharma is undermining the discovery of new drugs
Mariana Mazzucato’s op-ed in the Washington Post offers yet another reason why the federal government should be regulating drug prices. Pharma is not investing a meaningful amount of its...
What’s the Medicare premium in 2019?
The 2019 standard monthly Medicare Part B premium, which covers physician services and other medical and outpatient care, will increase from $134.00 to $135.50, up $1.50 a month for people with...
Don’t rely on Medicare Advantage plans to cover care from...
There is not a lot of good information available to help you choose a doctor, whether the doctor is a primary care doctor or a specialist. Yet, particularly when you’re ill or injured, it is...