Medicare

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Biden Backs Medicare, Medicaid 'Game Changer' for Obese

Proposal to add coverage of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic for those with BMI of 30+

(Newser) - Millions of Americans with obesity would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning, per the AP . The costly proposal from the US Department of Health and Human Services sets the stage...

Harris Announces Plan to Help 'Sandwich Generation'

She proposes expanding Medicare to cover home health aides for seniors

(Newser) - Vice President Kamala Harris announced a plan to help the "sandwich generation"—people who have to care for children and aging parents—on ABC's The View on Tuesday. Harris outlined a proposal to expand Medicare coverage to include services like home health aides for seniors, NPR reports....

Prices Will Be Slashed for These 10 Medicare Drugs

Drug costs to fall up to 79% beginning in 2026: Biden administration

(Newser) - Seniors will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for the 10 costliest prescription drugs under Medicare as a result of the Biden administration's negotiations with drug companies , according to a Thursday announcement. Beginning in 2026, the costs of 10 popular medications will be reduced by between 38% and...

Outlook Brightens Slightly for Social Security, Medicare

Programs still will run out of cash in just over a decade unless Congress does something

(Newser) - Social Security and Medicare will be able to pay benefits for slightly longer than projected a year ago, their trustees reported Monday, but the programs will still run short of money in a decade or so. As it stands, the trusts that pay for Social Security benefits will be drained...

Older and About to Become an Ex? Think Health Insurance

If you're about to divorce in your 50s, 60s, or older, think ahead so you're not left in the lurch

(Newser) - More than 1 in 3 people who divorce in the United States are age 50 or older, and 1 in 4 are 65 or older, according to a 2022 analysis published in the Journals of Gerontology. Divorcing as you near retirement—or after you've retired—comes with considerations: Are...

Medicare Will Target These 10 Drugs for Price Cuts

Biden administration to negotiate 'lowest maximum fair price' for Jardiance, Eliquis, others

(Newser) - The popular diabetes treatment Jardiance and the blood thinner Eliquis are among the first drugs that will be targeted for price negotiations in an effort to cut Medicare costs, reports the AP . President Biden's administration on Tuesday released a list of 10 drugs for which the federal government will...

Turns Out You're Footing the Bill for Americans' Ivermectin

Study of claims show Medicare is covering it

(Newser) - If you're in the camp that believes ivermectin is a wonderful drug ... for ailments other than COVID, a new Mother Jones article is likely to raise your ire. It flags a January study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that looked at just who is paying for...

Medicare Makes Big Decision on New Alzheimer's Drug

For now, it will limit Aduhelm coverage to those involved in a clinical trial

(Newser) - Medicare said Tuesday it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned , a major development in the nation’s tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing possibilities but come with prohibitive prices. The initial determination from the Centers...

Maker Cuts Price of Alzheimer's Drug in Half

The medication wasn't catching on at more than $50K per year, Biogen says

(Newser) - Biogen is slashing the price of its Alzheimer's treatment in half, months after it debuted to widespread criticism over an initial cost that could reach $56,000 annually. The drugmaker said Monday that it will cut the wholesale acquisition cost of the drug by about 50% next month. That...

$50 Hearing Aids Without a Prescription? That's the Goal
FDA Making a Big Shift
on Hearing Aids
in case you missed it
Oct 23, 2021 4:55 PM CDT

FDA Making a Big Shift on Hearing Aids

Plan would make them available over the counter at a cheaper price

(Newser) - Nearly five years after it was urged to make affordable hearing aids available over the counter, the FDA is taking a big step toward that goal. In a plan released Tuesday , the agency says it will create a new category of hearing aids that will be made available online and...

Social Security Depletion Date Is Now a Year Closer

Feds say pandemic depleted trust funds

(Newser) - The pandemic has pushed Social Security closer to precarious financial territory, the government warned in a report released Tuesday. The annual report from the Social Security and Medicare trustees said that unless Congress takes action, Social Security will no longer be able to pay full benefits by 2034, CNN reports....

Cost of Alzheimer's Drug Could Push Medicare to the Brink

Biogen product would nearly double program's medication budget, though it might not work

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration's approval of a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease could have enormous implications not just for patients, but for Medicare—even pushing the program toward collapse. FDA approval historically has meant Medicare will cover the cost of the medication, but with Biogen's...

Feds Make Arrests in COVID Medicare Scams

Fraudsters exploited virus fears to bill tens of millions in bogus claims

(Newser) - The Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against more than a dozen people from Florida to California in a series of Medicare scams that exploited coronavirus fears to bill tens of millions of dollars in bogus claims. A common hook involved a pandemic variant of identity theft: Fraudsters allegedly offered COVID-19...

Look Out: Here Comes Trump's New Budget Plan

The AP says it relies on 'rosy' projections

(Newser) - Confronted with trillion-dollar-plus deficits for as far as the eye can see, President Trump is offering a budget plan that rehashes previously rejected spending cuts while leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched. Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget plan, expected to be released Monday, isn’t likely to generate a...

Trump Suggests He's Open to Entitlement Cuts

'At some point' they will be on his plate, he says in CNBC interview

(Newser) - Entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare could potentially get cut under President Trump, or so he suggested at the very end of a CNBC interview from Davos on Wednesday. In what the Washington Post describes as a "new openness" to the idea—he pledged to protect entitlements...

Trump's Budget Sets Up a Fight Over Medicare
5 Key Takeaways
From Trump's Budget
Mar 12, 2019 8:37 AM CDT

5 Key Takeaways From Trump's Budget

Among them: He proposes cuts to Medicare as Democrats move in the opposite direction

(Newser) - President Trump proposed a $4.75 trillion budget on Monday, the largest one in history. Here are five takeaways from early coverage:
  • First key point: As the New York Times notes, this presidential budget is typical in that it's more of a political document than something that will affect
...

Medicare Expands Access to In-Home Support for Seniors

Services will be offered in more than 20 states starting next year

(Newser) - Medicare is experimenting with a new direction in health care. Starting next year, seniors in many states will be able to get additional services, such as help with chores and respite for caregivers, through private Medicare Advantage insurance plans, the AP reports. There's a growing recognition that such practical...

This $69B Deal May Reshape Health Care as We Know It

Proposed CVS-Aetna merger is approved by the DOJ

(Newser) - On Wednesday, CVS all but "cemented the deal" to buy Aetna for $69 billion, by scoring the Justice Department's preliminary approval of the deal, reports CNBC . With that green light comes a condition: that Aetna complete its plan to unload its Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business,...

Group Puts Huge Price Tag on Sanders' Plan. He Fires Back

Libertarian group says his 'Medicare for All' proposal would cost $32 trillion

(Newser) - Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for all" plan would increase government health care spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years, according to a study by a university-based libertarian policy center. The latest plan from the Vermont independent would require historic tax increases as government replaces what employers and consumers now...

Some States Will Be Big Winners Under ObamaCare Repeal Bill

But there will be 31 losers, according to federal report

(Newser) - There will be some big winners and plenty of losers under the latest effort at ObamaCare repeal, according to a Trump administration internal report. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predicts that reallocation of funding in the bill from Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham will cause...

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