Medicare Beneficiaries Can Lodge Complaints Over Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule today that would require most Medicare-participating providers and suppliers to give Medicare beneficiaries written notice...
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Hospice Cost for Medicare
Hospice agencies receive $142.91 per day from Medicare for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Payment is the same no matter the level of care that might be required for patients with...
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Annual Physical Now Covered by Medicare
As part of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare now covers annual wellness visits and will provide payment for the creation of a personalized prevention plan. The wellness visit will include a health...
View ArticleThe Future of Medicare Advantage: Who’s Right?
Donald Berwick, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), appeared yesterday at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the Affordable Care Act and its effect on...
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2011 Part D Enrollment: Winners and Losers
Medicare beneficiaries can change their Part D drug plan (PDP) at the end of end of every year. Once they are in a plan, most are “locked in” for the next year, except for certain special circumstances...
View ArticleMedicare Part D and Deficits
I wanted to find the cost to Medicare for Part D, the drug plan for Medicare beneficiaries that went into effect in 2006. I googled “Part D Medicare budget” and got very good information. In 2010,...
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The Cost of Medicare
In 2008, Medicare spent $9,100, on average, for each Medicare beneficiary. Multiply that times the 46 million people enrolled in Medicare in 2008 for a total expenditure of $418 billion. Kaiser...
View ArticleMedicare and the Budget
Kaiser Family Foundation (kff.org) has lots of information on Medicare and health care in general. It’s a great place to find data and analysis on Medicare, Medicaid, and health care reform. Here is...
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Brand Drug Cost Overwhelms Medicare Part D Budget
In 2008, Medicare spent $68.3 billion dollars on drugs purchased through Part D plans. This is too much money! Seventy-five percent of the $68.3 billion was spent on brand name drugs like Lipitor,...
View ArticleWhat’s in Medicare’s future?
Here is a list of changes to Medicare that have been proposed by various interest groups. By November, the “supercommittee” working on deficit reduction will let us know how they think Medicare should...
View ArticleTurning 65. Do you Need to enroll in Medicare?
Every day 10,000 American baby-boomers turn 65 . Most will enroll in Medicare, but many will not. Not everyone needs to enroll in Medicare because some people continue working and are covered by their...
View ArticleNo Big Medicare Advantage Cuts For 2014?
I recently wrote about the potential for Medicare Advantage mayhem this fall (2013) because of significant payment cuts that were announced in February by CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...
View ArticleTurning 65? Beware Medicare-related junk mail.
If you are turning 65 in the next four months, you are getting lots of mail from Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare supplement companies. Not all of this mail is junk, but some pieces have some...
View ArticleGetting help for Medicare and drug costs
Low-income Medicare beneficiaries get help with their Medicare Part B premium and their prescription drug costs. Income levels that qualify for help have been raised for 2013. Anyone on Medicare with...
View ArticlePart D is kind of complicated.
Yesterday I met with a client who is turning 65 in June. He is a doctor, and this doctor was amazed by how complicated Medicare Part D drug coverage is. As I explained how Part D drug coverage works,...
View ArticlePart D Deductible
Some Part D plans have a deductible and some do not. Part D plans with a deductible tend to have a lower premium than those that do not. Should you choose a Part D plan with a deductible? Most clients’...
View ArticleHow to Choose a Medicare Advantage Plan
Questions to ask when choosing a Medicare Advantage plan: Is having the biggest network of doctors important? Are low co-pays for doctor visits and hospital stays a top priority? Are drug co-pays...
View ArticleMedicare Choices of Arizona is our sister-site
I also have a Medicare Choices of Arizona website for people in Arizona. MEDICARECHOICESOFARIZONA.COM
View ArticleMedicare Home Health Services
An article by David Sayen, Medicare Regional Administrator: Medicare covers a variety of heath care services that you can receive in the comfort and privacy of your home. These include intermittent...
View ArticleFind Doctors Who Accept Medicare
Medicare has a website available for people to look up doctors. Below is a press release about the site. This site is for people looking to find doctors who accept Medicare, so it is for people who...
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