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Medicare takes center stage as president, Ryan address AARP

GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's plan to overhaul Medicare returned to the political spotlight Friday as both presidential campaigns jabbed each other during a summit of the AARP, the country's top advocacy group for seniors. Both Ryan, who addressed the group in person, and President Obama, who spoke ahead of Ryan via a video feed ..., accused the other side of advancing ideas that would undermine and destroy the popular health-care program for the elderly and the disabled.

24 Sep 2012

Health law, Medicare both hot issues in House and Senate races

News outlets examine how health issues are playing out in a House race in Pennsylvania and a Senate race in Massachusetts.

21 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: AARP's agenda on health law; Cuccinelli 'demeaning' Va. AG's office; Government's health care role

President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak Friday via satellite to a convention sponsored by AARP. ... here are five facts you're unlikely to hear from the president, or AARP, about how each treats seniors: First, while AARP poses as a disinterested senior advocate, it functions as an insurance conglomerate, with a liberal lobbying arm on the side. AARP depends on profits, royalties and commissions to make up more than 50 percent of its annual revenues.

21 Sep 2012

USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Obama more trusted on Medicare

Other polls indicate President Barack Obama is faring well in some swing states. GOP nominee Mitt Romney's campaign hopes to shift the focus to federal spending and Medicare issues as Obama and GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan speak today to the AARP.

21 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 21, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about recent polling results indicating that, despite GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's efforts to frame the Medicare debate, President Barack Obama still has the advantage on this issue.

21 Sep 2012

Romney touts his health care credentials

During a forum hosted by Univision, the GOP presidential nominee embraced his role as the "grandfather of Obamacare." Elsewhere on the camapign trail, the Service Employees International Union launches a Medicare attack ad against the Romney-Ryan campaign and other Republicans.

21 Sep 2012

Administration touts thriving Medicare Advantage under health law

Enrollment in the private plans is projected to increase 11 percent next year, while premiums hold steady, officials say, disproving predictions made by critics of the health care law.

21 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 20, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that the health law's penalty for not obtaining health insurance could hit as many as 6 million people.

21 Sep 2012

Are electronic medical records leading to higher medical bills?

Electronic medical records, long touted by government officials as a critical tool for cutting health care costs, appear to be prompting some doctors and hospitals to bill higher fees to Medicare for treating seniors.

20 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: Romney says citizens 'do need help from government;' One Retiree suggests sacrifices on Medicare, entitlements would be used to prop up rich

Government benefits are heavily skewed towards seniors, nearly all of whom paid Social Security and Medicare taxes for decades to earn them. Judging by the polls, both they and low-income workers are likely to give Romney respectable levels of support in November, unless they feel he is insulting them or cannot relate to their situation.

20 Sep 2012

Roundup: Filipino nurses in Calif. win $1M in language discrimination lawsuit; Texas Lawmakers hear of Medicaid managed care woes; Calif. soda limits could be next

A group of Filipino nurses who claimed they were mocked for their accents and ordered to speak "English only" won a nearly $1-million settlement against a Central California hospital where bosses and co-workers were allegedly urged to eavesdrop on the immigrant workers.

19 Sep 2012

Intensive rehabilitation may put off move to nursing facilities for elderly

Elderly, community-dwelling individuals who visit hospital with an acute illness are less likely to be transferred to skilled nursing facilities if they receive an intensified type of rehabilitation rather than usual rehabilitative care, report US researchers.

18 Sep 2012

Fall prediction and prevention technology: an interview with Rob Goudswaard and Heribert Baldus from Philips

Falls in the elderly are a major health problem. It is has emerged from data in the US that roughly 1 in 3 people over 65 fall at least once a year. Half of them experience the same again the next year.

18 Sep 2012

Cognitive training helps to significantly reduce coronary bypass postoperative complications

Each year in Quebec, nearly 6000 people undergo coronary bypass surgery. Recovery is long and quality of life is greatly affected, in particular because most patients experience cognitive deficits that affect attention and memory for weeks or even months after the surgery.

18 Sep 2012

Medicare upcoding could be adding to health care costs

The Center for Public Integrity reports on a trend in which many physicians and other medical professionals are billing Medicare for complicated and costly care. Some say this pattern signals an increase in medical billing abuse while others maintain it reflects seniors' need for more complex care.

17 Sep 2012

Medicare, health overhaul playing key role on the campaign trail

The Associated Press offers an issue breakdown regarding the health law positions taken by President Barack Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney while The Washington Post examines new studies that detail how Romney's Medicare proposals might impact seniors.

17 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 17, 2012

Today's headlines include a number of reports about how Medicare and other health policy issues are playing important roles on the campaign trail.

17 Sep 2012

Medicare policies continue to claim campaign trail attention

The presidential and vice presidential candidates compare and contrast their plans, and some fact checkers set to work on sorting out what they are saying.

15 Sep 2012

Research roundup: Patients' experiences at safety-net hospitals

Each week KHN reporter Ankita Rao compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

15 Sep 2012

Spending measure passes House with Ryan's support

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., returned to the chamber Thursday for the first time since he became the GOP vice presidential candidate, casting his vote for a measure that raised spending above the levels in his own budget. Republicans hailed him, while Democrats released a video highlighting his proposal to overhaul Medicare as a fixed subsidy program.

15 Sep 2012