Consumerist
scams
Posts Tagged “
Medicare
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scams
If you don't have private insurance, you're more likely to get a cancer diagnois after the disease is in its later stages, a new study shows. [NYT]
insurance
Humana Delays 93 Year Old's Medicine For 3 Weeks
John writes:Had a problem with my Mom's Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan with Humana. Their mail order pharmacy (RightSource) advertises a two-week turnaround from date of sending-in an order to receipt of medications. However after three weeks, RightSource had not acknowledged receipt of the order. A RightSource phone rep said the logging-in of orders was being delayed by two to three weeks due to heavy volume. This delay — in the case of meds for a 93 year-old lady — was unacceptable.More »
your health
Tips For Avoiding Medicare Sales Scams
The WSJ Health Blog alerts us to the existence of predatory sales scams involving private fee for service (PFFS) Medicare plans. More »
your health
America's 52 Worst Nursing Homes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released the first-ever
medicine
How To Avoid The Medicare Donut Hole
Anyone who has Medicare and takes lots of drugs or a few very expensive ones (or who has an older relative who does) knows about the dreaded "donut hole"—the gap in coverage that happens each year if you have to spend a lot of money on prescriptions. If you're above the poverty level but don't have good gap insurance, it can be financially devastating. The New York Times notes that for a quarter of at-risk patients, planning ahead with generics may help you skirt the donut hole altogether. The big stumbling block is that you have to be prepared to discuss your personal finances with your doctor. More »
A whisteblower lawsuit by a former employee alleges that Medicare and Medicard are being defrauded for millions of dollars by a complex three-card-monte scheme perpetrated by hospitals and group purchasing programs. [NYT] ]
pharma
Medicare Prescription Plans Set To Rise 21%
Seniors need to start comparison shopping now for their Medicare benefits. Enrollment begins November 15 and researchers say that beneficiaries in the most popular plans could see their monthly premiums lurch up 21%. Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, recommends,
"making a list of your medicines and how much you pay for them under your current plan. Check if that plan and other potential plans will cover those medications next year. If a plan doesn't, you could check with your doctor to see if a similar medicine or a generic would be as effective. Check the fine print because some plans permit certain drugs only after a patient has tried other medications."
Medicare.gov has lots of information and tools for comparison shopping. Some Medicare recipients may not be computer or internet savvy, so consider asking an older friend or family member if they need some help navigating the system.
Oddly enough, the popular plans that built up a big user base by having lower premiums are the ones raising their prices most significantly. Funny how that works.
Drug-Plan Shopping [Wall Street Journal via Consumer World Blog]
(Photo: trekkyandy)
Medicare is confusing, but you should understand it a lot better after you peruse all the manuals and training materials the outsourced 1-800-MEDICARE call center has posted online for their phone reps! [CMS]
Medicare's prescription drug plan finder was updated with 2008 information today. [Medicare]
insurance
Medicare Companies Use Sick Marketing Practices, Federal Audit Finds
A federal audit of Medicare coverage by brand-name insurance companies found a pattern of wrongly denied claims and deceptive marketing practices, NYT reports. In some cases, salesmen would show up at elderly folk's doors and say the President sent them, or that they're from Medicare. In others, telemarketers call and say they're from Medicare and the person will lose their benefits if they don't enroll in the telemarketer's plan. Our country's healthcare system is on life support and we're not sure what will fix it. Perhaps an appetite for more oversight, audits and fines for misbehaving companies would do the trick.
Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans [NYT via Consumer World Blog]
actually, this is good
Medicare No Longer to Pay for Preventable Hospital Errors, Injuries or Infections [Washington Post]
Medicare Won't Pay Hospitals For Preventable Errors
The Bush Administration announced on Saturday that Medicare will no longer pay hospitals for injuries and errors traditionally deemed "preventable," reports the Washington Post. This is good news for consumers as it will force hospitals to introduce efficiences and adhere best practices. These errors are things like bed sores, infections, slip and fall injuries, and the costs of leaving surgical instruments inside patients after surgery. And perhaps most importantly, a provision in the new rules forbids passing on the costs of preventable errors to consumers. The decision will also save the Medicare program millions of dollars.Medicare No Longer to Pay for Preventable Hospital Errors, Injuries or Infections [Washington Post]
Dem Gains Make Big Pharma Queasy
In other news, Democratic control of Congress cured our dyspepsia. — BEN POPKEN
Shift has drug firms wary [CT]
In other news, Democratic control of Congress cured our dyspepsia. — BEN POPKEN
Shift has drug firms wary [CT]
