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Study examines potential impact of the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan on cancer patients

A new study examines the potential impact of the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (M3P) - an opt-in policy implemented in 2025 under the Inflation Reduction Act that allows beneficiaries to spread out of pocket (OOP) costs over the calendar year - on Medicare Part D beneficiaries with cancer who face high out-of-pocket (OOP) prescription drug costs.

19 Jan 2026

Medicare coverage of telehealth: Study could inform Congressional decision

With another Congressional deadline looming this month for most telehealth coverage under Medicare, a new University of Michigan study adds more data to the debate.

19 Jan 2026

Kaiser Permanente to pay $556 million in record Medicare Advantage fraud settlement

In the largest Medicare Advantage fraud settlement to date, Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $556 million to settle Justice Department allegations that it billed the government for medical conditions patients didn't have.

16 Jan 2026

GOP cuts will cripple Medicaid enrollment, warns CEO of largest public health plan

When the head of the nation's largest publicly operated health plan worries about the looming federal cuts to Medicaid, it's not just her job. It's personal.

15 Jan 2026

States race to launch rural health transformation plans

Imagine starting the new year with the promise of at least a $147 million payout from the federal government.

14 Jan 2026

Implanted vagus nerve stimulation device offers lasting relief for severe depression

About 20% of U.S. adults experience major depression in their lifetime. For most people, symptoms improve within a few treatment attempts, but up to one-third of patients have treatment-resistant depression, for which standard antidepressant medication or psychotherapy isn't enough.

13 Jan 2026

This California strategy safeguarded some Medicaid social services funding from Trump

When Virginia Guevara moved into a studio apartment in California's Orange County in 2024 after nearly a decade of homelessness, she needed far more than a roof and a bed.

13 Jan 2026

Research finds persistent prescribing of risky medications to older adults with dementia

Despite years of clinical guidelines warning against the practice, one in four Medicare beneficiaries with dementia is prescribed brain-altering medications linked to falls, confusion, and hospitalization, according to new research to be published January 12 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA.

12 Jan 2026

California ends Medicaid coverage of weight loss drugs despite TrumpRx plan

Many low-income Californians prescribed wildly popular weight loss drugs lost their coverage for the medications at the start of the new year.

9 Jan 2026

Federal hospital safety metric fails to accurately assess emergency stroke care

A new UCLA study reveals that a widely used federal hospital safety metric is fundamentally flawed when applied to emergency stroke care, potentially creating incentives that may discourage hospitals from performing lifesaving procedures for the sickest patients.

8 Jan 2026

Solving the home care quandary

You're ready to leave the hospital, but you don't feel able to care for yourself at home yet.

8 Jan 2026

$Neighborhood disadvantage shapes recovery after hip fracture$

Neighborhood disadvantage shapes recovery after hip fracture

Older adults who live in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods spend significantly fewer days at home in the year after a fall-related hip fracture than those living in more affluent areas, according to a large national study published today in JAMA Network Open.

23 Dec 2025

Medical bills can be vexing and perplexing. Here’s this year’s best advice for patients.

A Texas boy's second dose of the MMRV vaccine cost over $1,400. A Pennsylvania woman's long-acting birth control cost more than $14,000.

23 Dec 2025

REIT ownership linked to higher risk of hospital bankruptcy and closure

Real estate investment trust (REIT)-acquired U.S. hospitals were associated with a greater risk of bankruptcy or closure than non-REIT-acquired hospitals, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

18 Dec 2025

Study examines fairness of oxygen desaturation thresholds in sleep apnea diagnosis

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder in the U.S. affecting tens of millions, with estimates ranging from 25 to more than 80 million adults.

17 Dec 2025

Severe weather exposure increases long-term mortality risk in older adults

Severe weather events have long-term health consequences for vulnerable older adults, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society based on data following Hurricane Harvey.

17 Dec 2025

Single-pill combination medications may simplify treatment for adults with high blood pressure

Taking one pill that combines two or more blood pressure medications may help adults with high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) lower their blood pressure level faster and more effectively than taking multiple medications separately, and it may also reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a new scientific statement published today in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

15 Dec 2025

New CMS models could reshape the landscape for lifestyle medicine practice and reimbursement

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) applauds two new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) models that could significantly reshape the landscape for lifestyle medicine practice and reimbursement.

12 Dec 2025

Plan-switching, sign-up impersonations: Obamacare enrollment fraud persists

Florida resident Keith Jones says his Affordable Care Act insurance plan was changed multiple times this year without his permission. Now the 52-year-old is struggling with his health problems while facing large premium bills he says he shouldn't owe.

10 Dec 2025

How delays and bankruptcy let a nursing home chain avoid paying settlements for injuries and deaths

Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit.

9 Dec 2025