Doctors, hospitals, drug companies and insurers have a simple message: The Affordable Care Act works reasonably well and should be improved, not repealed or replaced with a big new public program.
Medicare
Major hospital lobbying group comes out against ‘Medicare at 50’ bill
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would allow people to buy into Medicare beginning at age 50 — and already major players in the health care industry are coming out against it.
Around noon, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced “Medicare at 50,” legislation to let people between 50 and 64 years old buy Medicare coverage when they are shopping on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. It took industry lobbying groups only an hour to come out agai...
How Trump’s Latest Plan to Cut Drug Prices Will Affect You
The proposal seeks to lower out-of-pocket spending in Medicare by taking aim at the secret deals that drug makers strike with industry go-betweens.
Kamala Harris and Michael Bloomberg Clash on Medicare for All
Touring New Hampshire, Mr. Bloomberg said that it was fine to provide Medicare to uninsured Americans, but that giving it to everyone was financially untenable.
Bad UX is keeping hospital prices lists opaque despite new transparency law
Thanks to new US law, we now know the standard price for a cotton ball at the New York Presbyterian Hospital is $1.15. The list price for a skull X-ray at Orlando Health is $695 and NYU Langone’s average charge for a heart transplant is $1,698,831.13.
Unde...
Court Rejects Trump’s Effort to Cut Payments for Prescription Drugs
A federal judge said the president had vastly exceeded his legal authority in reducing payments to hospitals for drugs given to Medicare beneficiaries.
A eulogy for the most incompetent House majority in modern history
Long before Donald Trump’s second-place finish somehow landed him in the White House, Republicans in Congress promised a package of benefit cuts, privatization, and tax cuts for the wealthy that were so cruel, American voters literally refused to believe they were real. In 2012, a Democratic super PAC decided not to campaign against future Speaker Paul Ryan’s package of Medicare vouchers and upper income tax cuts after participants in a focus group “simply refused to beli...
‘Medicare for All’ Gains Favor With Democrats Looking Ahead to 2020
Democrats dream of expanding Medicare, but struggle to define the role of the popular private plans that now cover more than one-third of the 60 million Medicare beneficiaries.
Finally, US hospitals will have to post their prices online
Astronomical hospital bills are a trope of American health care. Hospitals in the US are known for charging exorbitant fees for simple procedures, and for adding baffling entries to discharge bills. Notorious examples include the woman who was charged $40 to hold her newbo...
Older workers are the economy’s most underrated natural resource
This story is part of What Happens Next, our complete guide to understanding the future. Read more predictions about the Future of Aging.
The world is changing for seniors, and they in turn are changing the world.
Today’s longevity...
