Recent Articles

Seniors in progressive U.S. states are choosing private Medicare Advantage plans more so than the national average even as the politicians who want to represent them talk about getting rid of the insurer’s role in health coverage. New data from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows more than 40% of new Medicare beneficiaries in Oregon and Minnesota…

Surprise medical billing typically comes from providers who refuse to join insurance networks so they can charge astronomical fees. Surprise billing ought to be addressed, but the solution isn’t to rely on an omnipotent arbitrator. The ideal solution is to require hospitals, doctors, and insurers to clean up their own mess wherever possible.

Congress could eliminate the Part D “protected classes” rule which forces insurers to pay for any drugs in six arbitrary categories, regardless of their price or value. (The Trump administration had proposed just such a reform, but withdrew it in a sop to the drug lobby.) More substantially, Congress should require that drug companies selling drugs…

Consolidation in the health system and health insurance industries has been a focus for years. But a new report sheds light on how the “bigger is better” mantra has taken hold in companies that make syringes, X-ray machines or other healthcare products The report, prepared by the Open Markets Institute using data from IBISWorld, shows a small handful…

Instead of debating how to expand Medicare coverage, politicians should focus on fixing the fatal financial flaws in the existing program that threaten to bankrupt the nation. Medicare spent 3.6% of gross domestic product in 2016, more than six times the share it consumed in 1967, the first full year it was implemented. The forecasts…

Citing the need to reduce rising health care costs, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that would allow Florida to pursue importing prescription drugs from abroad — though components of the bill will still require federal approval to take effect. HB 19 will open up three pathways for bringing medication in from different countries, including…

California will become the first state to pay for some adults living in the country illegally to have full health benefits as the solidly liberal bastion continues to distance itself from President Donald Trump’s administration. Democrats in the state Legislature reached an agreement Sunday afternoon as part of a broader plan to spend $213 billion…

In one case, an insurer prevented a woman from getting a CT scan her doctor ordered. In another, a mother couldn’t afford the full regimen of special bags needed to clear her cancer-stricken daughter’s lungs. In a third case, a woman lost her health insurance and could not afford end-of-life chemotherapy. These examples come from…

Thousands of Louisiana residents dropped their private coverage to enroll in Medicaid under the expansion. The count is between 3,000 and 5,000 people a month, and that doesn’t count those who enrolled in Medicaid first, then dropped private coverage.

People new to Medicare can receive their Medicare benefits through either traditional Medicare or private plans, such as HMOs or PPOs, known as Medicare Advantage plans. Older adults and younger beneficiaries with disabilities have said that they make this choice based on premiums and out-of-pocket costs, access to desired providers, the reputation of the company…