Medicare opens up access to free at-home COVID-19 tests
Starting in early spring, up to eight free tests will be available each month to people who have Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient benefit, which about 9 in 10 enrollees sign up for.
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Medicare limits coverage of $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug
Medicare officials stressed Tuesday that they did not take cost into account in the coverage decision, but rather whether Aduhelm is “reasonable and necessary” for treating Alzheimer’s patients enrolled in the program.
Medicare told to reassess premium hike caused by Alzheimer’s drug
U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra on Monday ordered Medicare to reassess a big premium increase facing millions of seniors this year, attributed in large part to a pricey new Alzheimer’s drug with questionable benefits.
Biden pledges savings on insulin, other drugs for Americans
The biggest policy change—a system for Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs—won’t begin to deliver lower costs until 2025, and then only for a selected set of 10 medicines, as well as insulin products.
Hospitals face big fines for frequent readmissions
For the 10th straight year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is using the pressure of lower reimbursements to get hospitals to improve their numbers and cut down on the revolving door of readmissions.
Democrats scramble to get a drug-price compromise
The compromise would allow Medicare to negotiate some prescription drug prices but significantly scale back Democrats’ earlier ambitions.
Income test for Medicare dental under debate, gets pushback
The so-called “means test” is drawing internal opposition from many Democratic lawmakers, as well as advocacy groups for older people, like AARP.
Lilly CEO says letting Medicare negotiate drug prices would bring research cuts
“A cut [in drug prices] like is being proposed would have about a 40% reduction in our U.S. revenues,” Lilly CEO David Ricks said in a television interview this week with Gerry Dick on Inside Indiana Business, a division of IBJ Media.
Biden calls for action to reduce prescription drug prices
President Joe Biden stepped up his battle over drug costs on Thursday, calling on Congress to pass legislation that would let Medicare negotiate directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers and penalize drugmakers that increase prices faster than inflation.
Medicare copays for new Alzheimer’s drug could reach $11,500
Separately, Dr. Aaron Kesselheim of Harvard University became the third member of an FDA advisory panel that opposed the drug to step down over the decision to approve it.
Study: Indiana ranks sixth in nation in hospital charge disparities
A new study released Friday by the Rand Corp. found that Hoosiers covered by employer health plans paid Indiana hospitals three times what Medicare would have paid for the same procedures, exceeding the national rate of disparity.
Dem report says Medicare chief Verma used fed money to bolster image
A Health and Human Services Department official called the report on Seema Verma a “political smear” by “far left politicians.” Before she headed to Washington, Verma was a consultant to former Gov. Mike Pence and designed the Healthy Indiana Plan.
Pandemic puts small hospitals in peril over Medicare advance payments
Indiana’s weakest and often smallest hospitals, usually with just a few dozen beds, might be only months from beginning the process of shutting their doors, industry leaders say.
Two dozen Indiana hospitals to be fined for high rates of infections, patient injuries
Twenty-four Indiana hospitals will be docked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—the highest number since the program began six years ago.
Feds accuse Community Health of submitting false claims to Medicare
The Justice Department said the financial arrangements were outlined in a whistleblower suit brought by Thomas Fischer, who served as Community Health’s CFO from 2005 until his sudden exit in 2013. In a separate suit, Fischer claimed he was fired in retaliation for questioning possibly illegal practices.
House passes bill to empower Medicare to negotiate drug costs
The legislation has no chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate, and the White House has issued a veto threat. Still, Democrats saw a victory in the message their bill sends to voters.
Pelosi sets Medicare showdown on drug costs, new benefits
As a hammer to force companies to negotiate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would impose steep sales taxes on the medications at issue. Overall, budget analysts estimated the legislation would cut industry revenues by $500 billion to $1 trillion over 10 years.
Medicare drug plan finder can steer seniors to higher costs
As open enrollment goes into the home stretch Thanksgiving week, critics say the new tool can create confusion by obscuring out-of-pocket costs that seniors should factor into their decisions.
Source: White House finds Pelosi drug plan ‘unworkable’
President Trump is instead backing a bipartisan bill that would for the first time limit what seniors have to pay out of their own pockets for medications.
Warren pledges no middle class tax increase in $20T health care plan
Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren’s plan is built on transferring to the government 98% of the $8.8 trillion she estimates that employers will spend on private insurance for their employees.