WATSONVILLE – For the greater part of 2008, Dr. Chris O’Grady closed his doors to new Medicare patients.
He was already caring for so many elderly patients in his Watsonville-based family practice that he was often going home at 10 p.m.
Medicare paid him far less than he considered fair – and now the government was threatening to cut the rates again.
Many of the county’s primary care doctors have struggled before reaching the same conclusion.
Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare has quietly expanded its coverage for cancer drugs to include some treatments that haven’t gotten the Food and Drug Administration’s full seal of approval.
The change was announced last summer with little fanfare and took effect in the fall. It means that doctors and patients seeking Medicare reimbursement for certain novel treatments won’t have to negotiate with the billing department for payment. But it’s also Read the rest of this entry »

spending continues to vary widely across the country, with some cities like Miami and Dallas experiencing much faster growth in costs than places like San Francisco and Pittsburgh, according to a new analysis by Dartmouth researchers.
In their analysis, to be published Thursday in the
, the researchers say that addressing the wide variations in the cost of care for the elderly will be critical to any overhaul of the nation’s health care Read the rest of this entry »

LAS VEGAS—Federal officials are granting a reprieve allowing the only hospital kidney transplant program in Nevada to remain open at least until June.
The Las Vegas Sun reported Wednesday that University Medical Center in Las Vegas won praise for addressing a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report that found high death rates for transplant recipients.
The program, which has about 200 people awaiting kidney transplants, was facing Read the rest of this entry »

What is Medicare Part D?
It’s insurance that helps pay for brand-name and generic prescription drugs. Everyone on Medicare is eligible but it’s optional. No one is required to buy Part D coverage. Yet here’s the catch. If you join in the future, you could be charged extra as a penalty for not signing up when first eligible.
There are two ways to get Part D insurance. You can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, which is a managed-care organization Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The future has arrived for U.S. doctors when it comes to prescribing medications.
Starting next month, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, will offer financial bonuses to doctors who prescribe drugs electronically rather than on paper. Doctors who do not will face penalties from Medicare starting in 2012.
This is intended to help persuade the vast majority of U.S. doctors who do not Read the rest of this entry »

Someone who has lost a job because of a permanent disability can elect
to continue using their former employer’s
group health plan through COBRA
coverage. Employers who sponsor a group health plan with 20 or more
employees are subject to COBRA, which allows former employees, their
spouses and children to maintain coverage under the employer’s
health plan for 18 months of continuation coverage after they Read the rest of this entry »

With his 65th birthday — the age of Medicare eligibility — fast approaching, Bill Sturm is discovering the downside of this federal health-insurance program: its wide array of choices.
“Even after spending hours researching the options for a retirement-issues group I lead, I still find it really complicated and frustrating,” says Mr. Sturm, a lawyer who is winding down his Lexington, Ky., law practice.
Today marks the start of Medicare’s six-week Read the rest of this entry »

Those of us who analyze health policy and trends for a living have struggled to follow John McCain’s health plan through its many seemingly-improvised changes. First he was taxing health benefits through both payroll and income tax. Then he said he only intended to apply income tax, which meant that his plan would create even larger deficits. Now he says there
be deficits, because he’s going to make up the cost of those tax credits by slashing Medicare Read the rest of this entry »

The Free Press today hosted a Web chat for the 100,000 General Motors salaried retirees and their dependents making the transition to buying their own health benefits. It was held the first day of open enrollment for GM salaried retirees. Each retiree will receive a $300 pension contribution per month that can be used to buy health insurance.
Our experts answered dozens of your questions.
• Julie Monahan, manager, health care training, General Read the rest of this entry »