Blog

• 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 >

• Members of Congress Suggest Expanding Medicare Telehealth Options

  May 24, 2021: Early on in the pandemic, the federal government expanded telehealth services covered under traditional Medicare on a temporary, emergency basis. Before, only patients who lived in rural areas could access telehealth options from certain providers an...Read more >

• Hearing Exposes Greed of Drug Corporation AbbVie

  May 24, 2021: According to a study released on May 18 by the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee, the pharmaceutical corporation AbbVie has raised prices 470% in the United States for its widely used drugs Humira and Imbruvica over the past two decades. The ...Read more >

• As Pandemic Eases, Many Seniors Have Lost Strength, May Need Rehabilitative Services

  May 21, 2021: Ronald Lindquist, 87, has been active all his life. So, he wasn’t prepared for what happened when he stopped going out during the coronavirus pandemic and spent most of his time, inactive, at home. “I found it hard to get up and get out of bed...Read more >

• Stark Racial Disparities Persist in Vaccinations, State-Level CDC Data Shows

  May 20, 2021: Black Americans’ covid-19 vaccination rates are still lagging months into the nation’s campaign, while Hispanics are closing the gap and Native Americans show the highest rates overall, according to federal data obtained by KHN. The data, prov...Read more >

• Congress Takes Significant Steps to Strengthen the Postal Service

  May 17, 2021: The U.S. Senate confirmed two of President Biden’s nominees to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors last week: Ron Stroman, a former deputy postmaster general, and Amber McReynolds, chief executive of the National Vote at Home Institute. A th...Read more >