All posts by rebecca

KFF Health News: Thousands of Medicare Beneficiaries Thought Their Drug Plan Was Free. Then They Lost It.

Jude Pare and his partner, Diane Tix, live in rural Minnesota until temperatures dip below freezing, when they take refuge in Arizona for the winter. While away, their mail is forwarded. But Pare, 77, said he didn’t receive any warning from his Medicare prescription drug plan t... Read more

KFF Health News: Medicare Advantage Company Pays $342M to Government in Midst of Billing Probe

A major Medicare Advantage company has paid the government more than $342 million to help settle allegations that it overcharged the federal healthcare program for years. Elevance Health, which covers about 2 million people on Medicare, sent the money to the Centers for Medica... Read more

KFF Health News: Medicare’s AI Push Snarls Patients and Doctors in Errors and Delays

(iStock/Getty Images) Bill Curry, 65, raises cattle on the same land in rural Oklahoma once owned by his father and generations before him. Each quarter, for several years, he has made the 2½-hour drive to Oklahoma City for an epidural in his spine to treat his back pain. Bu... Read more

KFF Health News: Trump Bought Tobacco Stocks and Raked In Industry Donations as FDA Eased Standards

President Donald Trump, who once declared he had “saved” flavored vapes, grew his stock holdings this year to as much as $1.64 million in tobacco giant Philip Morris. He also had holdings in Altria and a third leading tobacco company, though an apparent discrepancy in his ... Read more

KFF Health News: Trump Promised Cheaper Drugs. Some Prices Dropped. Many Others Shot Up.

Since his second term started, President Donald Trump has announced, negotiated, or floated a flurry of initiatives aimed at taming the excesses of the pharmaceutical industry. No surprise. About 60% of American adults are “worried about being able to afford prescription dru... Read more

KFF Health News: A New Medicare Option for Weight Loss Drugs – What Older Americans Should Know

  (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Starting in July, Medicare beneficiaries may be able to get a GLP-1 prescription for weight loss for $50 a month. It’s a notable shift for Medicare, which has long been barred from covering weight loss treatments. ... Read more

KFF Health News: New Federal Medicaid Rules Require One Month of Work. Some States Demand More.

Millions of people who apply for Medicaid in the coming years will have to prove they’ve been working, going to school, or volunteering for at least a month before they can gain or retain health insurance through the government program. But Republican lawmakers in some state... Read more

KFF Health News: Can I Opt Out of Having My Doctor Take Notes With AI?

Family physician Eric Boose has been using an artificial intelligence tool to get back to what he calls “old-fashioned medicine” — talking with patients face-to-face, without having to type into a computer at the same time. “I can really just sit there and engage and j... Read more

KFF Health News: Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare

John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But he’s waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare. He was already thinking about delaying it — then his monthly Obamacare insurance premium payment tripled this year to $2,460, a... Read more