MONEY

Biden administration to lower costs for 64 drugs through inflation penalties on drugmakers

The Biden administration said it will impose inflation penalties on 64 prescription drugs for the third quarter of this year, lowering costs for certain older Americans enrolled in Medicare.

Insulin Prices Are Deadly High—But Mutual Aid Is Keeping Diabetics Alive

Mother Jones – Since May 2021, Rebecca Dotson has navigated type II diabetes with the help of mutual aid. Without the right resources—monitoring devices, insulin, and other medications—unmanaged diabetes can, at worst, kill people; it can also lead to expensive hospital stays and complications including amputations. Insulin is seven to 10 times more expensive in the United States than abroad, on average, which can be disastrous for uninsured and underinsured people. A few months after she was...

DOJ charges Chinese national with operating ‘world’s largest botnet’ that stole $5.9 billion in Covid relief funds

The DOJ partnered with the FBI and international law enforcement to shut down a global malware network that stole $5.9 billion of Covid relief funds and is linked to other crimes.

Tennessee Gives This Hospital Monopoly an A Grade — Even When It Reports Failure

“It’s a shadow of the hospital we used to have.”

Reporting Medicare fraud & abuse

MEDICARE.GOV – Medicare fraud and abuse can happen anywhere. It’s important that you protect your Medicare number and other personal information, and check your Medicare claims regularly so you don’t become a victim. What are some examples of Medicare fraud? A provider that bills Medicare for services or supplies they never gave you, like charging you for a visit you never had, or a back brace you never got. A provider that charges Medicare twice for...

Exclusive: Senator Urges Biden Administration To Thwart Fraudulent Obamacare Enrollments

KFF Health News – Stronger actions are needed immediately to thwart insurance brokers who fraudulently enroll or switch people in Affordable Care Act coverage, Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said Monday. “We want the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to hold these brokers criminally responsible for ripping people off this way,” he told KFF Health News. In a sharply worded letter sent to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Oregon Democrat...

“Outrageously” priced weight-loss drugs could bankrupt US health care

Without a dramatic price cut, Americans will likely face either losing access to the drugs or shouldering higher overall health care costs, or some of both.

Cash incentives may help men lose weight, research finds

Men with obesity offered incentives and sent healthy-eating tips found to have lost most weight

Biden Exaggerates Insulin Savings

KFF HEALTH NEWS – The cost of insulin in the United States has risen considerably in recent years, with some estimates finding that Americans have paid around 10 times as much for the drug as people in other developed countries. But recent changes by the federal government and drug manufacturers have started to drive insulin prices down, something President Joe Biden often mentions at campaign events. Biden told the crowd at a March 19 campaign reception in Reno,...

More Patients Are Losing Their Doctors — And Trust in the Primary Care System

KFF HEALTH NEWS – First, her favorite doctor in Providence, Rhode Island, retired. Then her other doctor at a health center a few miles away left the practice. Now, Piedad Fred has developed a new chronic condition: distrust in the American medical system. "I don’t know,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “To go to a doctor that doesn’t know who you are? That doesn’t know what allergies you have, the medicines that make you...

ACA Plans Are Being Switched Without Enrollees’ OK

KFF Health News – Some consumers covered by Affordable Care Act insurance plans are being switched from one plan to another without their express permission, potentially leaving them unable to see their doctors or fill prescriptions. Some face large IRS bills for back taxes. Unauthorized enrollment or plan-switching is emerging as a serious challenge for the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Brokers say the ease with which rogue agents can get into policyholder accounts in the...

Senate investigating whether ER care has been harmed by growing role of private-equity firms

Improper billing, retaliation and anti-competitive activities are being reported at emergency rooms throughout the nation.

Voter: I Am Leaving The Democratic Party Over Obamacare, “Everything They Said Was Not True”

I thought I would share why I am no longer a Democrat... I was a two-time bone cancer survivor, still am. That's how I lost my arm. Having healthcare was extremely important to me. I heard all the talking points of "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor," "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan, "the average family is going to save $1,500 a year," "it's not a tax." All of...