As Medicare Advantage continues to grow, a gradual but significant reshaping of the Medicare program is taking place. A new KFF analysis finds that nearly half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries – 28.4 million out of 58.6 million Medicare beneficiaries overall – are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. That represents a more than doubling of the share of the eligible […]

  Multiple sclerosis is typically assessed by a test that that measures how far and how well a patient walks. Called the expanded disability status scale, or EDSS, it’s scored according to a clinician’s observations along with patient-reported information. This decades-old test has become the gold standard for tracking MS progression, but it still has limitations, according to Charisse Litchman, […]

Dozens of small community hospitals with low inpatient volumes will likely be good candidates to convert to the rural emergency hospital model. But before they convert, hospitals want more clarity and adjustments on issues like maintaining swing beds, the 340B drug discount program, the status of rural health clinics, quality reporting requirements and staffing models. Trust issues with the federal […]

Suzanne BeHanna initially turned down an experimental but potentially lifesaving cancer treatment. Three years ago, the newlywed, then 62, was sick with stage 4 lymphoma, sick from two failed rounds of chemotherapy, and sick of living in a trailer park near the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. It was fall 2019, and treatment had forced her […]

Since 2006, the role of Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to traditional Medicare, has steadily grown. In 2022, more than 28 million people are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, accounting for nearly half or 48 percent of the eligible Medicare population, and $427 billion (or 55%) of total federal Medicare spending (net of premiums). The average Medicare beneficiary […]