Blog

• Black and Hispanic Americans Suffer Most in Biggest US Decline in Life Expectancy Since WWII

  June 24, 2021: [caption id="attachment_12157" align="alignnone" width="960"] PHOENIX, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 07: Maricopa County constable Darlene Martinez evicts a tenant on October 7, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. Thousands of court-ordered evictions continue nationwide d...Read more >

• Pandemic Swells Medicaid Enrollment to 80 Million People, a ‘High-Water Mark’

  June 24, 2021: The pandemic-caused recession and a federal requirement that states keep Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled until the national emergency ends swelled the pool of people in the program by more than 9 million over the past year, according to a report re...Read more >

• U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses Challenge to the Affordable Care Act

  June 21, 2021: In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is the third time that the Supreme Court has upheld the law which provides health insurance for millions of American...Read more >

• Government Panel: Higher Drug Prices, not More Prescriptions, Are Driving Higher Medicare Spending

  June 21, 2021: Medicare’s spending on prescription drugs increased by 26% between 2013 and 2018 -- and high drug prices are to blame -- according to a new report from the Medicare Advisory Payment Commission (MedPAC). The expert report rebuts the pharmaceutica...Read more >

• Device Makers Have Funneled Billions to Orthopedic Surgeons Who Use Their Products

  June 17, 2021: Dr. Kingsley R. Chin was little more than a decade out of Harvard Medical School when sales of his spine surgical implants took off. Chin has patented more than 40 pieces of such hardware, including doughnut-shaped plastic cages, titanium screws a...Read more >

• New Alzheimer’s Drug Approved as Debate Heats Up Over Its Cost, Effectiveness

  June 15, 2021: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized Aduhelm, a controversial new Alzheimer's disease treatment created by Biogen. Aduhelm is the first new treatment approved for Alzheimer’s after a nearly 20-year hiatus in new therapies for ...Read more >

• Biden Budget Includes Funds to Boost Social Security’s Customer Service

  June 15, 2021: The Social Security Administration (SSA) would receive a $1.3 billion — or 9.7% — increase if President Joe Biden's FY 2022 budget is adopted. The President has requested a total of $14.2 billion for SSA, and Commissioner Andrew Saul stated in th...Read more >

• Drug Prices Rose at Twice the Inflation Rate in 2020

  June 15, 2021: Leading House Democrats this week said they'll try to incorporate the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) — the bill that allows Medicare to directly negotiate reduced medication costs — into whatever infrastructure and jobs plan...Read more >

• Zooming Into the Statehouse: Nursing Home Residents Use New Digital Skills to Push for Changes

  June 09, 2021: Patty Bausch testified remotely before a Connecticut state legislative hearing on Feb. 23, 2021. (CONNECTICUT GENERAL ASSEMBLY AGING COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING VIA YOUTUBE) Patty Bausch isn’t a Medicaid expert, lawyer or medical professional....Read more >

• Caring for an Aging Nation

  June 03, 2021: A Variety of Services Booming Number of Seniors The Cost of Long-Term Care Services The Physical – and Financial – Burden The $61 Billion Price Tag Health care for the nation’s seniors looms large as the baby-boom generation ages into re...Read more >