Blog

• KFF Health News: Extra Fees Drive Assisted Living Profits

  November 21, 2023: Assisted living centers have become an appealing retirement option for hundreds of thousands of boomers who can no longer live independently, promising a cheerful alternative to the institutional feel of a nursing home. But their cost is so crushi...Read more >

• KFF Health News: Save Billions or Stick With Humira? Drug Brokers Steer Americans to the Costly Choice

  September 21, 2023: Tennessee last year spent $48 million on a single drug, Humira — about $62,000 for each of the 775 patients who were covered by its employee health insurance program and receiving the treatment. So when nine Humira knockoffs, known as biosimilars, ...Read more >

• Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage for Denying Care and Overcharging

  June 30, 2022: Congress should crack down on Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors that sometimes deny patients vital medical care while overcharging the government billions of dollars every year, government watchdogs told a House panel Tuesday. Witnesses ...Read more >

• Kaiser Health News: It’s Your Choice: You Can Change Your Views of Aging and Improve Your Life

  April 13, 2022: People’s beliefs about aging have a profound impact on their health, influencing everything from their memory and sensory perceptions to how well they walk, how fully they recover from disabling illness, and how long they live. When aging is...Read more >

• KHN: As Covid Slogs On, Seniors Find Fortitude Waning and Malaise Growing

  February 24, 2022: Late one night in January, Jonathan Coffino, 78, turned to his wife as they sat in bed. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” he said, glumly. Coffino was referring to the caution that’s come to define his life during t...Read more >

• For Older Patients, Exercise Could Speed Recovery Following Hospitalization

  February 18, 2022: Even though bed rest is commonly prescribed for older adults recovering from a hospital stay, many health care professionals are highlighting the risks associated with such inactivity. In one study on older hospital patients from 2008, scientist...Read more >

• Census Report Highlights Older Households’ Sources of Income

  February 16, 2022: While Social Security makes up the largest share of most older adults’ incomes, other sources also provide earnings to people 65 and older. A new report from the United States Census Bureau analyzed older households’ sources of income, the am...Read more >

• KHN: Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic

  September 17, 2021: Republican legislators in more than half of U.S. states, spurred on by voters angry about lockdowns and mask mandates, are taking away the powers state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious diseases. People celebrate...Read more >

• Apple, Bose and Others Pump Up the Volume on Hearing Aid Options, Filling Void Left by FDA

  August 31, 2021: Spurred by decades of complaints about the high cost of hearing aids, Congress passed a law in 2017 to allow over-the-counter sales, with hopes it would boost competition and lower prices. Four years later, federal regulators have yet to issue...Read more >

• Calming Computer Jitters: Help for Seniors Who Aren’t Tech-Savvy

  July 01, 2021: Six months ago, Cindy Sanders, 68, bought a computer so she could learn how to email and have Zoom chats with her great-grandchildren. It’s still sitting in a box, unopened. “I didn’t know how to set it up or how to get help,” said ...Read more >