New research from the Peterson Center on Health Care and the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that Americans are now holding at least $195 billion in medical debt. Nine in ten of them have health...
Diane Archer
Medicare hospice benefit has become a luxury
For many years, Medicare has covered palliative or non-curative care at the end of life through its hospice benefit. The benefit is intended to allow people, with six months or less to live to die...
Read this before leaving the hospital with new prescriptions
As many of you likely know, something as simple as filling prescriptions before leaving the hospital can be challenging. Read this to help ensure you do a better job than I. And, please send in your...
Biden administration bent on privatizing traditional Medicare
There appears to be little light any more between corporate health care and government health care or even between government health care-speak and corporate health care-speak. In the latest...
How prior authorization requirements in Medicare Advantage could...
If you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan and have needed any costly care, you likely know about prior authorization requirements that save corporate health insurers money but can threaten...
UnitedHealth could force nearly 3,000 patients to forgo care or...
Because the US Congress leaves it to corporate health insurers to negotiate health care provider rates and agreements, our health care costs are far higher than they should be. In addition, access to...
For help in the hospital, contact a patient advocate
Tara Parker-Pope writes for the New York Times about how she was able to help her family members receiving hospital inpatient care. As you likely know, it can be extremely difficult and stressful to...
Medicare coverage of mental health care
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in five Americans age 55 years or older have some kind of mental health concern. They often suffer from anxiety, severe cognitive impairment...
2022: Programs that lower your health care costs if you have...
Medicare only covers about half of a typical person’s health care costs, leaving people with average annual out-of-pocket costs of more than $6,100. So, even with Medicare, many people struggle to...
Providence Health sued for failing to provide charity care to...
No question that corporate health insurers are driving up health care spending. The higher their costs, the more money they make. Some hospitals are helping the insurers and hurting patients, with...