Jun 12 2014
Elsewhere, those who switch to a newer type of insulin find added cost.
USA Today: Seniors' Use Of Potent Meds Via Medicare Staggering
The number of senior citizens getting narcotic painkillers and anti-anxiety medications under Medicare's prescription drug program is climbing sharply, and those older patients are being put on the drugs for longer periods of time, a USA TODAY examination of federal data shows. From 2007-2012, the number of patients 65 and older getting Medicare prescriptions for powerful opioid pain medications rose more than 30 percent to upward of 8.5 million beneficiaries, the data show (Eisler, 6/10).
NPR: Switching To Newer Insulin For Type 2 Diabetes Comes At A Cost
Many people with diabetes have switched to newer forms of insulin called analogs, because they can make the disease easier to manage. But that switch can be expensive, a study finds (Shute, 6/10).
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 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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Without Medicare Part B’s shield, patient’s family owes $81,000 for a single air-ambulance flight