Because the Supreme Court gave states the option of expanding Medicaid, it has forced about four million people today into an insurance no man’s land. These four million people live in states that...
Diane Archer
Need for more home care workers to care for older adults at home
An increasing number of older adults are choosing to age in their homes rather than in nursing homes or other institutionalized settings. With the population aging, there are too few home care aides...
To improve hospital patient satisfaction, switch out the gowns
A recent JAMA study looks at inpatient hospital attire as an element of patient satisfaction. Patients lose self-esteem and don’t feel that doctors treat them as people when they are forced to wear...
Are hospitals driving up costs for people with Medicare to...
In a new Health Affairs post, David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler argue that Medicare’s pay-for-performance system might be doing more harm than good, when it comes to hospital readmissions...
Want to improve your heart health? Get married
How can you improve your heart health as you get older? According to one research study, it’s all about being married. A study out of the New York University Langone Medical Center finds that...
Pain is prevalent among Americans
A recent study from the National Institutes of Health reveals that 40 million Americans suffer from severe pain and more than 25 million Americans (11.1 percent) experience pain on a daily basis...
No Social Security increase in 2016 at substantial cost to most...
Every year but two for the last 40 years, people have seen a cost-of-living increase in their Social Security checks, an inflation adjustment. But, they will see no increase at all in their Social...
Hi-tech goggles allow doctors to see cancer cells
In the what-will-they-come-up-with-next department, a new goggle technology allows doctors to see cancer cells. They literally light up. Watch for yourself. And, then, see how the pharmaceutical...
Diabetes is common among older adults: Know the symptoms
About thirteen million people with Medicare have Type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition in which our bodies are not able to control the amount of sugar in our blood, and we end up with high blood...
Half a million people with low incomes unable to get mental...
In 1996, the Mental Health Parity Act was signed into law to guarantee that insurers did not restrict access to mental health care but rather imposed the same or higher annual or lifetime dollar caps...