Medicare News and Research

RSS

Can brain training prevent dementia? Long-term trial shows speed training with boosters makes a difference

A 20-year follow-up of older adults in the ACTIVE randomized trial linked to Medicare claims found that speed of processing cognitive training with booster sessions was associated with a significantly lower risk of diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Memory and reasoning training did not show comparable long-term reductions in dementia risk.

2 Mar 2026

NIH grant funds evaluation of expanded Medicare Advantage benefits

Today, more than half of older Americans receive their Medicare coverage through private Medicare Advantage plans. In 2020, that program made a sweeping policy shift, allowing those plans to offer supplemental benefits beyond traditional medical care, including groceries, meal deliveries, utilities, transportation, pest control, and air filters.

27 Feb 2026

To avoid care disruptions, know when the clock runs out on your prior authorization

A woman with multiple sclerosis wanted to be able to walk up the stairs at home without losing her balance.

27 Feb 2026

He needs an expensive drug. A copay card helped — until it didn’t.

Over the course of 2025, Jayant Mishra of Mission Viejo, California, progressively developed scaly, itchy red patches on his skin. Then came the pain and swelling in the joints of his hands, making it difficult to do his work at a bank.

27 Feb 2026

Misdiagnosed Parkinson's patient regains life after NPH treatment

At age 66, Richard "Dick" Nash first suspected something might be wrong when he participated in a Dallas walk for juvenile diabetes in honor of his granddaughter.

26 Feb 2026

Sustainable inhalers offer better outcomes for COPD patients

26 Feb 2026

Heart attack deaths increase in young adults, especially women

A new study found that heart attack deaths were up among younger adults with women more likely than men to die after a first heart attack.

26 Feb 2026

‘Kind of morbid’: Health premiums threaten their nest egg. A terminal diagnosis may spare it.

Early on, Jean Franklin got some career advice she followed religiously: "Pay yourself first." So she did, socking away hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings by the time she became a stay-at-home mom at age 41.

26 Feb 2026

Hospitals fighting measles confront a challenge: Few doctors have seen it before

At around 2 a.m., 7-year-old twin brothers arrived at Mission Hospital in Asheville. Both had a fever, a cough, a rash, pink eye, and cold symptoms.

24 Feb 2026

UCLA Health finds eco-friendly inhalers improve COPD outcomes

New research from UCLA Health suggests that certain inhalers used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are not only less harmful to the environment but can also lead to slightly better patient outcomes. Inhalers are essential therapies for COPD and other lung conditions, but many commonly used devices rely on propellants that are potent greenhouse gases.

23 Feb 2026

When it comes to health insurance, federal dollars support more than ACA plans

Subsidies. Love 'em or hate them, they dominated the news during the Affordable Care Act's sign-up season, and their reduction is now hitting many enrollees in the pocketbook.

20 Feb 2026

Should drug companies be advertising to consumers?

Tamar Abrams had a lousy couple of years in 2022 and '23. Both her parents died; a relationship ended; she retired from communications consulting.

20 Feb 2026

Stroke care varies across Medicare coverage types

A first-of-its-kind analysis has revealed significant differences in stroke outcomes and stroke care for patients on government-run traditional Medicare plans versus those on Medicare Advantage, offered by private insurers.

18 Feb 2026

Wyoming wants to make its five-year federal rural health funding last ‘forever’

Wyoming officials say they have a plan to make five years of upcoming grants from a new $50 billion federal rural health program last "forever."

18 Feb 2026

Red and blue states alike want to limit AI in insurance. Trump wants to limit the states.

It's the rare policy question that unites Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Democratic-led Maryland government against President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California: How should health insurers use AI?

18 Feb 2026

Air pollution linked to higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease

People with greater exposure to air pollution face a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by Yanling Deng of Emory University, U.S.A., and colleagues, published February 17th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine.

17 Feb 2026

Medicare News and Research

Can brain training prevent dementia? Long-term trial shows speed training with boosters makes a difference

NIH grant funds evaluation of expanded Medicare Advantage benefits

To avoid care disruptions, know when the clock runs out on your prior authorization

He needs an expensive drug. A copay card helped — until it didn’t.

Misdiagnosed Parkinson's patient regains life after NPH treatment

Sustainable inhalers offer better outcomes for COPD patients

Heart attack deaths increase in young adults, especially women

‘Kind of morbid’: Health premiums threaten their nest egg. A terminal diagnosis may spare it.

Hospitals fighting measles confront a challenge: Few doctors have seen it before

UCLA Health finds eco-friendly inhalers improve COPD outcomes

When it comes to health insurance, federal dollars support more than ACA plans

Should drug companies be advertising to consumers?

Stroke care varies across Medicare coverage types

Wyoming wants to make its five-year federal rural health funding last ‘forever’

Red and blue states alike want to limit AI in insurance. Trump wants to limit the states.

Air pollution linked to higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease

Trump required hospitals to post their prices for patients. Mostly it’s the industry using the data.

Trump team’s planned ACA rule offers its answer to rising premium costs: Catastrophic coverage

Clinics sour on CMS after agency scraps 10-year primary care program only months in

Alabama’s ‘pretty cool’ plan for robots in maternity care sparks debate

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (2nd Edition) eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Latest News