My neighbor called me recently about her Medicare Advantage problem. Renee has a pacemaker to keep her heart beating properly – but she nearly had a heart attack when her Medicare Advantage plan told her she was not eligible to…
Originally posted on April 21, 2010 in response to a proposal to raise Medicare age for eligibility: I hit the trifecta this week by meeting three women who will turn 65 in July. All three of them told me they…
Can you use Medicare outside the U.S.? NO What if you have a Medicare Advantage plan? Some Medicare Advantage plans will pay for emergency care outside the U.S. Today I talked via Skype to a client who has moved to…
This story was originally posted in 2011. My client was shocked by his $126,000 hospital bill. When you spend the night in the hospital, you would assume you had been “admitted” to the hospital – but you could be wrong. …
A friend sent me an email recently about a senior who was told by a doctor that Medicare will not pay for “observation status” in the hospital. This new rule is supposedly part of the Affordable Care Act – but I knew this was not true.
Kaiser Health News has an article about Medicare and cataract surgery and how a simple and inexpensive procedure is costing Medicare a lot more than it should.
Dr David Belk writes an interesting blog, TrueCostofHealthcare.org. He has recently written about generic drug prices going up over the past year. He writes: Nearly half of the generic listings surveyed (607 in total) went up in price- many way…
I wrote recently about a client who was thrilled to receive notice from AHCCCS that she qualifies for additional help for her medical costs. I told her something must have changed at AHCCCS because her income is about $60 too…
The state of Arizona’s Medicaid program will pay the Medicare premium for people with income below $1,333 for an individual) or $1789 for a couple. I wrote about the details of this assistance last year: Help for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries. In…
Kaiser Health News reports that Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which finances about half the health program for seniors and the disabled, won’t run out of money until 2030. That’s four years later than projected last year and 13 years…
Humana and UnitedHealthcare are the biggest players in the Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement business – and business has been quite good for them.
As I read a CNBC story about Medicare Advantage, I was shocked to see my name in the first paragraph.
20% of seniors have mental health problems and suicide is especially high among older men. Is help available for seniors?
My primary care doctor is not accepting new patients, whether they are on Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or any health insurance. But he is kind of old and his Physician Assistant takes new patients – but I don’t know how much…
People can delay enrollment in Medicare Part B if they are working beyond their 65th birthday or are covered by their spouse’s employer health insurance.
When you spend the night in the hospital, you would assume you had been “admitted” to the hospital – but you could be wrong.
Read the small print when signing papers for durable medical equipment!
