Tag Archives: Medicare

“Why so many of our fellow Americans trust the government that never put Social Security money in a lockbox, that have now brought it to the brink of insolvency and Medicare to the brink of insolvency? “The same people that promised you’d keep your doctor and your plan and save on average $2,500 a year; millions and millions lost their …

Ars Technica reports: Health insurance companies cannot use algorithms or artificial intelligence to determine care or deny coverage to members on Medicare Advantage plans, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clarified in a memo sent to all Medicare Advantage insurers. The memo—formatted like an FAQ on Medicare Advantage (MA) plan rules—comes just months after patients filed lawsuits claiming …

Reuters reports: The Biden administration on Tuesday released its list of 10 prescription medicines that will be subject to the first-ever price negotiations by the U.S. Medicare health program that covers 66 million people, with big-selling blood thinner Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb. President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law last year, allows the Medicare health …

Axios reports: Senate Democrats are running personalized ads against Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the only two vulnerable Republican senators in 2024, Axios has learned. Democrats are on defense this cycle, defending incumbents in three states that former President Trump won in 2020, as well as another five swing states. But they have narrow openings to challenge …

From the Justice Department: The Justice Department, together with federal and state law enforcement partners, announced today a strategically coordinated, two-week nationwide law enforcement action that resulted in criminal charges against 78 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes that included over $2.5 billion in alleged fraud. The defendants allegedly defrauded programs entrusted for …

The Hill reports: Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for “common sense” reforms to federal entitlement programs, namely Social Security and Medicare, weighing in on what is set to be a wedge issue in the 2024 presidential campaign. “If we act in this moment with the support of this generation, we can introduce common sense reforms that will …

Raw Story reports: Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called to end Social Security and Medicare, and instead replace them with a “better deal” for younger Americans. During an interview on Fox News, Pence was asked about his plan for entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. “We are simply not going to reform the fiscal health of this …

Semafor reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz is trying to convince his fellow Republicans to demand new work requirements for Medicaid as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. He tells Semafor that he’s now “socializing” the concept among colleagues, including Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Aside from being a sure nonstarter with Democrats, targeting Medicaid carries political risks. It’s a colossal …

ABC News reports: The rule, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would ban ads that market Medicare Advantage plans with confusing words, imagery or logos. The new regulation would also prohibit ads that don’t specifically mention a health insurance plan by name. Nationwide TV commercials featuring celebrities have also misled some customers by telling viewers they’ll get …

The Wisconsin State Journal reports: Saying programs like Social Security and Medicare suffer from improper oversight, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday called for turning every government program into discretionary spending programs, meaning Congress would have to allocate funding for the programs each year. Such an effort could lead to yearly battles over the programs — fights that some Republicans …

From the Justice Department: Yesterday, a federal judge in Miami ordered that a Hialeah resident who allegedly submitted more than $4 million in fraudulent health care claims to Medicare be detained pending trial, after the defendant was arrested on board a jet ski headed south from Key West toward Cuba. According to allegations in the criminal complaint, from February through …

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration announced Thursday that, starting in early spring, the 64 million people on Medicare will be able to get free coronavirus rapid tests from certain pharmacies. The initiative responds to weeks of criticism from members of Congress and advocacy groups that Medicare, the vast federal insurance system for older and disabled Americans, was left …

Talking Points Memo reports: Friday is the 56th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, and the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), weighed in with a doozy of a take. What separates Medicare and Medicaid, government programs that cover health care costs for the elderly and poor, from socialism? Republicans asked that exact question in the …

The New York Daily News reports: Millions of elderly Americans on Medicare would get dental, vision and hearing insurance added to their health benefits under a proposal pushed Sunday by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Americans age 65 and older have since the 1960s received subsidized health care coverage under Medicare — but Schumer said the program’s …

Roll Call reports: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma used millions in federal taxpayer funds to pay for communications consultants with strong Republican ties to polish her own profile, potentially violating federal policies, a new report released Thursday by House and Senate Democratic committees alleges. The new report — released jointly after a 17-month investigation — found …

NBC News Miami reports: A woman who served nearly a decade behind bars for her role in a health care and money laundering scheme returned to Miami-Dade County early Wednesday morning. President Donald Trump on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of Judith Negron, who was serving time for her role in a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme back in 2011. …

The New York Times reports: President Trump released a $4.8 trillion budget proposal on Monday that includes a familiar list of deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing efforts, food stamps and Medicaid, reflecting Mr. Trump’s election-year effort to continue shrinking the federal safety net. The proposal, which must be approved by Congress, includes additional spending for the military, …

The New York Times report: President Trump suggested on Wednesday that he would be willing to consider cuts to social safety-net programs like Medicare to reduce the federal deficit if he wins a second term, an apparent shift from his 2016 campaign promise to protect funding for such entitlements. The president made the comments on the sidelines of the World …

From the Department of Justice: The owner and chief executive officer (CEO) of a telemedicine company pleaded guilty today for his role in one of the largest health care fraud schemes ever investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and prosecuted by the Department of Justice, which resulted …

Time Magazine reports: President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget includes nearly $300 million meant to “defeat the HIV/AIDS epidemic” in the U.S. — even as it calls for a 12% reduction in total funding to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The proposed budget calls for $140 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to …