President Trump recently proposed requiring pharmaceutical companies to include a drug’s price in all drug ads. This proposal would do nothing to lower drug prices or benefit Americans in any...
Diane Archer
Few doctors opt out of Medicare
If you have traditional Medicare, you have coverage from virtually any doctor or hospital in the US. While not every doctor takes Medicare, the vast majority of doctors do. That said, there are a...
Rescuing retirement with Social Security plus
In an article for Politico, Jacob Hacker lays out his vision for rescuing retirement–universal private retirement savings that become a defined benefit upon retirement, an annuity paid by...
2018 Trustees’ reports show GOP tax cuts hurt Medicare and...
The Medicare and Social Security Trustees just released their reports on these two vital social insurance programs. More than anything, they show that the GOP tax cuts are hurting Medicare and...
Out-of-pocket costs for Part D brand drugs way up
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) just released a report revealing a steep increase in out-of-pocket costs for people with Medicare Part...
State efforts to rein in prescription drug costs
The overwhelming majority of the public supports government intervention to bring down drug prices. While the federal government is doing precious little about prescription drug prices other than...
VA program offers older veterans care in private homes
Patricia Kime reports for Kaiser Health News on foster homes for older veterans. At these private homes, licensed caregivers attend to their needs and often treat them like family. These private...
Pharma’s monopolies are the reason for high drug prices
David Blumenthal, President of the Commonwealth Fund, explains in the Fund’s blog, that the simple reason for high drug prices in the US is that Pharma has monopolies over the prescription drug...
Medicare Part D in 2018
The Kaiser Family Foundation has a new issue brief on Medicare Part D enrollment, premiums, and cost-sharing in 2018. The biggest takeaway is that if you are among the 43 million people with...
Medicare Handbook misleading
Axios reports that the Trump Administration’s 2019 Medicare Handbook contains misleading information about Medicare Advantage plans, commercial health plans that contract with the Centers for...