STAT+: Biden administration funnels one of the largest-ever pay increases to Medicare Advantage insurers
The federal government is boosting the average payment to Medicare Advantage plans by 5% for…
Category: Medicare
STAT+: UnitedHealth’s deal with LHC highlights broader interest in home health industry
UnitedHealth Group’s proposed $5.4 billion buyout of home health and hospice provider LHC Group serves…
Opinion: How to fix the two-tier U.S. health payment system
How the U.S. pays for health care is neither efficient nor fair. Despite spending an…
Medicare premiums could decrease ‘soon,’ after decision on Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm
WASHINGTON — Whether seniors get an unprecedented mid-year discount on Medicare premiums will hinge on…
Inside the push for a permanent pandemic preparedness office at the White House
You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s weekly newsletter about the politics and…
STAT+: Congress considers a longer phase-out of looser, Covid-era telehealth policies
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are considering extending the more flexible telehealth policies put in place during the…
STAT+: Even as it struggles, startup insurer Bright Health deepens its ties to Cigna
Bright Health is hemorrhaging money, raising questions not only about its future but also about…
Opinion: Clinical labor pricing updates are needed to address workforce shortages, financial strain
The ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on primary care physicians are jarring. Fewer than…
STAT+: Major telehealth players unite ahead of tough lobbying battle
WASHINGTON — Major players in the telehealth space have united to create a supergroup of…
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Opinion: It’s time to open up health care’s secret analytics
Each year as older adults begin choosing between traditional fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage, they…
STAT+: Hospitals and doctors fail to stop end-of-year Medicare cuts, for now
WASHINGTON — Hospitals and physicians lost a lobbying battle to stave off Medicare cuts of…
Moderate Democrats are still seeking changes to the party’s drug pricing package
WASHINGTON — Rep. Kurt Schrader, the Oregon Democrat who has played an outsized role in…
STAT+: Biogen’s pricey Alzheimer’s drug will fuel record premium hikes for Medicare Part B
The high cost of the Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen (BIIB) is a key reason that…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: Power for Medicare to negotiate drug prices grows less likely; FDA OKs mix-and-match Covid booster shots
Top of the morning to you. And a fine one it is. Crystal clear blue…
STAT+: Senate Democrats push back on the notion that adding dental, vision to Medicare would bankrupt it
Key Senate Democrats used a hearing Wednesday to push back on the argument that expanding…
Opinion: Much Adu(helm) about nothing: New Alzheimer’s drug threatens state Medicaid budgets
A new drug that was supposed to be a lifeline for thousands of individuals and…
STAT+: Devoted Health raises a record $1.2 billion to expand care for older Americans
It is an extraordinary amount of money at an extraordinary time. Devoted Health, a startup…
Opinion: A federal drug purchasing program could save billions
When Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan announced they were creating a new health care company…
Opinion: Proposals to cap Medicare Part B payments will limit outpatient access to CAR-T
The revolutionary life-extending approach to treating cancer known as CAR-T is under threat from a…
STAT+: ‘A solid black eye’: Drug pricing reform advocates scramble to reset after setback in Congress
WASHINGTON — For the cadre of progressive groups fighting to bring down drug prices in…
STAT+: A ‘wonky’ congressional report will be a pharma talking point in the drug pricing debate
As lawmakers in Washington grapple with legislation to alter the upward trajectory of prescription drug…
Opinion: Congress is about to legislate a future without new medicines. We have a better plan
One of the fundamental principles on which the U.S. economy is based is that the…
Opinion: Outdated rule increases Medicare’s costs for generic drugs by $26 billion a year
Public outcry about the shockingly high cost of brand-name drugs and a demand for new…
Opinion: To lower drug costs, define ‘cost’ to mean net cost after rebates
In what could be a turning point in the prescription drug debate, President Biden has…
STAT+: Democrats want to let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Has pharma found a way to lessen the blow, already?
WASHINGTON — As Democrats design a way to use the government’s leverage to lower drug…
Opinion: Accountable care organizations don’t cut costs. It’s time to stop the managed care experiment
For the last half-century, Congress has endorsed essentially the same approach to cutting health care…
In a new policy proposal, Biden presses Congress to let Medicare negotiate drug prices
President Biden on Thursday took his most concrete action to date on prescription drug prices,…
STAT+: Vulnerable Senate Democrats escalate a push for Medicare to negotiate drug prices
WASHINGTON — Five of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate on Tuesday publicly renewed…
Opinion: Making hearing aids affordable isn’t enough. Older adults also need hearing care services
When Anne Madison noticed her hearing was declining at age 66, she struggled. She had…
Desperate for relief amid Covid-19, hospitals find an unusual ally in Susan Collins
WASHINGTON — The lobbying frenzy began late last month, as senators and the White House…
Alzheimer’s patients are in limbo as hospitals, insurers grapple with whether to offer Aduhelm
For all the explosive controversy over the approval of the first treatment for Alzheimer’s disease…
STAT+: The ins and outs of the rare, controversial way Medicare might pay for Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration last month foisted a nearly impossible decision on…
STAT+: Medicare starts process that could limit access to Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — Federal officials on Monday announced the agency will start a process that could…
STAT+: Supreme Court to take up hospitals’ challenge to Medicare drug pay cuts
WASHINGTON — In a win for safety-net hospitals, the Supreme Court decided to hear their…
Opinion: Outdated Medicare rules threaten older Americans’ access to home medical equipment
Pandemic-related breaks in global supply chains for drugs and essential medical supplies are affecting the…
STAT+: Revised analysis nudges up cost-effective price for Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug to $3,000 to $8,400 a year
The controversial new Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen (BIIB) would be cost-effective only if priced between…
Will Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug’s burden on Medicare be big, huge, or catastrophic?
The Food and Drug Administration’s decision to grant wide-ranging approval to the controversial, pricey new…
STAT+: Bipartisan pair of senators calls on Congress to examine expensive new Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) want Congress to take a…
STAT+: Biogen isn’t the only drug company that will profit from the new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm
WASHINGTON — Biogen’s expecting to make billions from its newly approved Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm. But…
STAT+: Cost-effectiveness studies for widely used Medicare Part D drugs are few and far between
As more emphasis is placed on the value of prescription medicines, a new study found…
STAT+: Billions spent on prescription drug ads may have increased Medicare spending
The large sums of money spent on advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers may have…
STAT+: Despite its high price tag, the new Alzheimer’s drug isn’t reigniting the drug pricing debate
WASHINGTON — It has all the makings of a bombastic drug pricing debate: a highly…
Opinion: Medicare: Cover amyloid PET scans and stop keeping people with dementia in the dark
One morning in 2012, my wife Geri looked in the mirror and failed to recognize…
Opinion: Routine cognitive screening can help detect early signs of dementia
Both of us lost our dads to Alzheimer’s disease, and both of our families carried…
Opinion: Congress should end dialysis companies’ third-party games with insurance coverage
The Covid-19 relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in March temporarily expanded…
STAT+: Why hospitals hate Bernie Sanders’ latest health reform push
WASHINGTON — Progressives in Congress, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, have ramped up pressure on…
Top Senate Republican holds up Biden’s CMS nominee over Texas Medicaid waiver
WASHINGTON — A top Senate Republican is holding up the confirmation of President Biden’s nominee…
Opinion: For-profit nursing homes and hospices are a bad deal for older Americans
Nursing homes and hospice care are supposed to provide safe refuges for older people and…
STAT+: Hints emerge about a key Senate committee’s plans for health care
WASHINGTON — A Senate hearing Thursday provided one of the clearest roadmaps to date for…
STAT+: Senate reaches deal to extend Medicare pay bump for health care providers through 2021
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders have reached an agreement to extend a Medicare pay bump for…