With more than one in five Americans today not filling their prescriptions because of the cost, it’s time to bring down drug prices. While we wait for Congress to act, even generic drug...
Diane Archer
Mental health telemedicine growing in rural areas
At both the federal and state levels, there is a growing interest in telemedicine. But how is it working? Ateev Mehrotra and his team studied the use of mental health telemedicine in rural areas for...
People with Medicare still forced to go without critical...
We need to expand Medicare so that it covers all essential medical costs. Today, people with Medicare typically spend $4,000 a year out-of-pocket on health care costs. While the Medicare premiums...
Medicare Advantage plans bilking Medicare
Since its inception in 2002, Medicare Advantage, a program that allows private health insurers to contract with the government to provide Medicare benefits, has always cost the federal government...
Get paid to be a health care buddy
Call them health care buddies or a new breed of concierges, the New York Times reports on a fast growing group of baby boomers working as paid assistants and companions to older adults in their...
Can we get to improved Medicare for all?
Regardless of political persuasion, most Americans want Congress to expand Medicare to every American. Some people talk about the benefits of “single payer” health care, which generally...
Help for caregivers who leave their jobs
Millions of caregivers leave their jobs to care for a loved one at some time in their careers. Not only do they lose their income in the process, they stop paying into Social Security and may see...
Programs for vulnerable Americans on chopping block
President Trump has released his budget, and it puts programs for vulnerable Americans on the chopping block. Along with food stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and CHIP (the...
People with Medicare typically spend over $4,000 for care
Most people look forward to enrolling in Medicare. After all, traditional Medicare gives you a wide choice of doctors and hospitals anywhere in the country. And if you have supplemental coverage to...
For-profit kidney dialysis: Profits before people
In a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver takes on the kidney dialysis industry, particularly DaVita, the for-profit company that controls a large piece of the kidney dialysis business in...