The idea of doctors making house calls seems old fashioned. But for frail, elderly people with multiple health problems, home visits makes sense.
Can Congress bring itself to surrender power over a program as politically sensitive as Medicare?
A new study says, yes, it would made a real difference.
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security account for 40% of all federal spending, other than interest on the debt.
Bill that would eliminate a 12-year-old formula that reduces Medicare payments to doctors when their costs exceed targets stalls.
The anticipated cut of more than 20% is so large that many doctors say they may have stop seeing Medicare patients altogether.
The average enrollee can expect to pay an average premium of $39 a month.
The number of facilities has fallen by nearly 1,000 to about 15,700 since 2000. More than 80,000 beds have been shuttered over those nine years. And the number of Medicaid-only beds—those certified for long-term care stays– has plunged by half since 1995, to about 114,000.
Opinion: In truth, seniors are likely to be big winners if responsible health reform passes and prime victims if it fails, says columnist Howard Gleckman of the Urban Insitute.
By Elizabeth G. Olson
July 14, 2009
(This story is a collaboration between Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post.)
When 81-year-old Sally Darr needed nursing home care after injuring herself in a fall, her family turned to a new federal rating system for help.
The online tool uses movie-review-style ratings – one to five stars – to compare [...]
Medicare covers little long-term care. Long-term care insurance, which pays benefits for a stay in a nursing home or assisted living facility as well as for home care, could offer some financial security.
By Joseph Shapiro
NPR – a Kaiser Health News partner
July 08, 2009
Until recently, it looked like long-term care was not going to be a serious part of any potential health care overhaul.
But that changed when the Obama administration this week endorsed a new government social insurance program that would help people put aside money [...]
Dogs and cats cause more than 86,000 falls each year—about 240 day—serious enough to send someone to the emergency department, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dogs caused more than seven times as many injuries as cats (88% vs. 11.7%), and girls and women were more than twice as likely to [...]
If you or a loved one needs nursing home care, how can you find about about the quality of various nursing homes? In this column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, describes a new easy-to-use Web tool called Nursing Home Compare.
“The tool provides information on nursing homes that have [...]
Invisible Families: The homeless you don't see
They squeeze in with relatives, couch surf with friends or camp out in cars. More families are quietly becoming homeless, driven to the edge by a lack of jobs and affordable housing. The Seattle Times and its local news partners tackle the topic together. Project home
E-Health Records: Seattle is ahead of the curve
Health News from the Seattle Times
