A new Gallup survey finds that almost 10 percent of Americans say they have or have had cancer, reports Avery Lotz for Axios. That’s the bad news. The good news is that fewer people in the US are dying of cancer over the...
Community living for people with dementia can have tremendous benefits
Today, some 500,000 people in the US are diagnosed with dementia each year. Black Americans are twice as likely to develop dementia as White Americans. Only a small percentage of people with dementia get help with cooking...
Senator Sanders recognizes need for array of health care reforms, but not strengthening Traditional Medicare
Senator Bernie Sanders, Ranking Member of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is asking Senate Democrats to come together behind major health care reforms when they negotiate with Republicans on...
Insurers misuse prior authorization even for simple treatments
One big insurer, Anthem, denied coverage inappropriately to a woman who needed medicine to ward off Lyme disease on the ground that she failed to get prior authorization for her care. Even when the care needed is easy and...
Medicaid corporate insurer networks block access to care
Most states contract with corporate health insurers to deliver health care benefits to their residents on Medicaid. A PNHP report shows that these for-profit insurers cost states more than if they delivered benefits directly, as...
Republicans move in the wrong direction on health care
Republicans in Congress are trying to figure out what to do on the health care front, now that they’ve refused to continue additional subsidies for people on the ACA health care exchanges. Millions more people are projected...
2026: What are your Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket costs?
The federal government is raising the Part B Medicare premium to $202.90 in 2026, almost 10 percent more than this year and way higher than the rate of inflation. Under the law, people with Medicare pay a premium amount that...
Prior authorization: What is to be done?
If there’s one thing about health insurance that just about everyone can agree on, it is that prior authorization is hell. Corporate health insurers use prior authorization to delay and deny care inappropriately all the time...
State insurance commissioners aim to protect people from unscrupulous Medicare Advantage insurers and their insurance agents
Jonalyn Cueto reports for InsuranceBusinessMag that state insurance commissioners are speaking out against Medicare Advantage insurers because they are gaming the system and harming people with Medicare. To maximize profits...
Dramatic spike in premature deaths among adults under 65
A new study out of Brown University and Harvard University finds that between 2012 and 2022, premature deaths among adults under 65 spiked dramatically. Consequently, these people never benefited from their lifetime contributions...
UnitedHealthcare won’t cover remote monitoring of people with chronic conditions, though Traditional Medicare covers it
Traditional Medicare covers remote monitoring of people with chronic conditions when necessary to ensure their conditions remain stable. UnitedHealthcare is supposed to cover the same benefits as Medicare for people enrolled in...
Trump wants to end Obamacare and give people money to fend for themselves
Seven Democrats have caved, voting with Republicans to end the government shutdown without getting any meaningful concessions from the Republicans on Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) health care subsidies for people in the...