Tag: Medicare
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Drug makers’ payments to doctors may influence their choice of what drugs to prescribe, and that can cost patients real money
By Trudy LiebermanRural Health News Service Peggy, an Indiana woman and reader of this column, recently sent me a lengthy email about her 94-year-old mother who is rapidly...
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How Medicaid came to cover 1 in 3 people in Ky., 1 in 5 in U.S., and how it could be changed despite health bill’s failure
Medicaid is the main reason many more people have health insurance, especially in Kentucky.These New York Times maps are interactive, with county data. For the interactives, click here. The failure...
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Medicare cuts 11 Ky. hospitals for patient-safety issues; repeaters in Louisville, Danville, Hopkinsville, Lexington, Paducah, Florence
The federal government is penalizing 11 Kentucky hospitals for falling short on patient safety in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, two more than last year. Medicare has imposed...
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Study finds a community awareness campaign increased uptake of low-dose CT scan, which can detect lung cancer early
A community awareness campaign in Eastern Kentucky about a low-dose CT scan that detects lung cancer early has increased uptake of the procedure and prompted individuals to consider quitting tobacco,...
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The hospital ER you visit may be in your insurance network, but your ER doctor may not be, and that could cost you big money
You go to the emergency room of a hospital, choosing it because it’s in the network of your health insurer. But then you get a big bill because the ER...
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Noted heart surgeon found guilty of health care fraud; exaggerated patient conditions to get Medicare payments
Dr. Richard Paulus (Ashland Independent photo) In the latest judgment of health-care fraud in Kentucky, a well-respected cardiologist in Ashland was found guilty last week of performing unnecessary heart procedures...
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Nursing-home rating tool has added 5 new quality measures; here are tips for choosing a facility, and Kentucky’s worst-rated
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Choosing a nursing home is a daunting task and often done in the middle of a crisis, but it doesn’t have to be if...
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Drug prices keep rising, with no end in sight
By Trudy Lieberman Rural Health News Service Recently a tweet from Lauren Sausser, a fine health reporter I know in South Carolina, caught my eye. “Crazy drug prices became personal....
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Hearing loss can lead to cognitive decline or even dementia, but is often unaffordable, and financial aid for it is shrinking
By Trudy Lieberman Rural Health News Service Nearly two-thirds of adults over age 70 have hearing loss that doctors consider “clinically meaningful.” In plain English that means as people age,...
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UK pays big to settle a health-care debacle but keeps almost all details under wraps; Herald-Leader says trustees should worry
“The University of Kentucky has spent more than $5 million in the last year to fix federal billing issues involving a Hazard cardiology practice it acquired three years ago, but...