Medicare's annual open enrollment period began Oct. 15, allowing seniors to choose new plans. New rules this year are supposed to crack down on misleading marketing but buyers should still beware.
Despite at least nine lawsuits against the government, all companies whose drugs are up for Medicare price negotiation will come to the bargaining table.
If a shutdown happens, millions of federal employees will be furloughed and many others will be forced to work without pay until it ends. A handful of federal programs that people nationwide rely on everyday could also be disrupted — from dwindling funds for food assistance to potential delays in customer service for recipients of Medicare and Social Security.
Medicare and Medicaid are mandatory spending programs and that keeps them relatively safe in the early days of the shutdown, but 42% of the Department of Health's staff will be furloughed.
About 12 million Americans are known as "dual eligibles" because they need both Medicare and Medicaid. A bipartisan bill offers hope to cut through the tangle of red tape that often ensnares them.
The government will negotiate new prices for the commonly prescribed drugs, but the cuts won't take effect until 2026. In the meantime, drugmakers are fighting the negotiations with lawsuits.
Medicare was supposed to cover the entire cost of his procedure. But the anesthesia provider failed to file its claims in a timely manner and billed the patient instead.
Medicare soon will start something it hasn't done in its 58-year history: Negotiate on drug prices. On Sept. 1, Medicare will target the first 10 drugs for price negotiations.
Some seniors got dozens of COVID tests they never ordered. Bad actors may have used seniors' Medicare information to improperly bill the federal government — and could do it again, investigators say.
The end-of-life benefit costs billions a year. A new approach aims to eliminate waste and weed out bad actors, while making the care more inviting to those who most need it.
Policymakers will need to patch the Social Security program by 2033 to avoid draconian cuts in benefits, a year earlier than had been predicted. A trust fund for Medicare will run out of cash by 2031.
As the White House and Republicans in Congress gear up for negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling, how to pay for senior health care could be a sticking point, even if cuts are "off the table."
