| 33 Health - Medicare Benefits Resources |
| 75% of Medicare beneficiaries with stand-alone prescription drug plans could face premium increases in 2008
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| The open enrollment period for the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit begins Thursday and continues through the end of the year, and beneficiaries should "look closely" at their plans because many of them are increasing premiums.
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November 12, 2007 |
Provides Information |
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| A Break May Be Coming on Retiree Health Costs
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| A court ruling may have cleared the way for employers to save money by coordinating retiree health benefits with Medicare without being guilty of age discrimination.
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| Open |
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October 2007 |
Provides Information |
| AARP
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| Guide to the New Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage.
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| Open |
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Provides Information |
| ACP says Medicare cuts will hurt physicians in small practices - asks Congress to pass legislation to avert pending pay cut
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| Noting that many physicians across the country who lead small practices are at a business breaking point, David M. Dale, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP) testified today before the House Small Business Committee. Dr. Dale emphasized that practices are medicine's small businesses, where much of their revenue is tied directly to Medicare's flawed reimbursement rates and formulas.
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| Open |
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May 8, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Act Now to Switch Medicare Advantage Plans
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| I signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan during open-enrollment season and am just starting to use it this year, but I haven't been happy with the coverage. Is there any way to switch plans now?
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| Open |
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March 10, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Analysis defines impact of Medicare Part D
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| The most thorough study to date of the impact of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D) found that this benefit led to a 13.1 percent decrease in out-of-pocket expenses for patients and a 5.9 percent increase in prescription use.
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| Open |
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January 9, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| B |
| Blacks on Medicaid carry heavier cancer burden than whites do
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| African-American patients receiving Medicaid benefits have markedly higher rates of breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer than whites on Medicaid according to a recent study.
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| Open |
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April 24, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Bush vetoes bill to stop doctors' Medicare cut
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| Both chambers of Congress expected to move quickly to override.
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| Open |
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July 15, 2008 |
Provides Information |
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| Congress rejects veto of bill to halt doctors' Medicare payment cuts
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| Overriding President Bush's veto, both houses of Congress voted Tuesday to halt planned cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.
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| Open |
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July 15, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| D |
| Dead Doctors Used to Scam Government Out of Medicare Money, Probe Finds
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| Sellers of wheelchairs, drugs and other medical supplies collected as much as $93 million in fraudulent Medicare claims based on prescriptions from doctors who actually were dead, some for 10 years or more, a congressional investigation has found.
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| Open |
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July 8, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Democrats hit GOP on support for Medicare cuts
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| Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, accused Republicans of putting seniors and military families at risk by siding with President Bush against a measure to prevent Medicare cuts.
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| Open |
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July 5, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Ditch These Medicare-Supplement Plans
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| I have heard that Medicare Advantage plans will be phased out in the next few years. If that's the case, is it prudent to switch from the Medicare-supplement Plan J that I now have to a Medicare Advantage plan?
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| Open |
Open Tab |
May 19, 2008 |
Provides Information |
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| Elderly Medicare, Medicaid Patients Not Receiving Quality Care
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| If the care received by vulnerable older people concurrently enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid was evaluated on a grading scale, it would squeak by with a barely passing mark, a new UCLA study has found.
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| Open |
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October 18, 2007 |
Provides Information |
| H |
| Home sleep test for sleep apnea approved by Medicare
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| The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the United States have given approval for new sleep test to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
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| Open |
Open Tab |
March 17, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| House Blocks Bush's Plan to Cut Medicaid Spending
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| The House voted Wednesday to block the Bush administration from cutting federal spending on Medicaid health care for the poor by $13 billion over the next five years. President Bush has threatened a veto, but supporters have more than enough votes in the House to override him, and maybe in the Senate, too.
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| Open |
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April 23, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| M |
| Medicare costs estimated at $21.1 billion for 5 years of care for elderly cancer patients
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| The 5-year cost is highest for patients with lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers. The estimated cost for 5 years of care for elderly Medicare patients diagnosed with cancer in 2004 is $21.1 billion.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
April 29, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Medical Insurance Coding Consulting
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| holds national seminars and consulting on medical insurance reimbursement including Medicare ICD9 CPT coding. Most seminars relate to a specific speciality
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| Open |
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Provides a Service |
| Medicare
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| The Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
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Provides Information |
| Medicare Drug-Plan Premiums to Rise
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| I see that insurance companies are starting to market their Medicare Part D prescription drug plans for 2008, and it looks like prices are quite a bit higher than they were last year.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
October 10, 2007 |
Provides Information |
| Medicare part B premiums to increase by 3.1% in 2008 to $96.40 per month
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| CMS on Monday announced that the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B, which covers physician visits and outpatient hospital care, will increase by $2.90, or 3.1%, to $96.40 in 2008 -- the smallest increase since 2000, when the premium remained the same.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
October 2, 2007 |
Provides Information |
| Medicare Plan Choices
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| What are Medicare Health Plans?
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| Open |
Open Tab |
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Provides Information |
| Medicare Rights Center
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| Your Guide through the Medicare Maze.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
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Provides Information |
| Medicare Won't Pay Hospitals That Make Mistakes
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| It's a new way to push for patient safety: Don't pay hospitals when they commit certain errors. Medicare will start hitting hospitals where it hurts in October, and other insurers are hot on the trail.
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| Open |
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February 19, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Medicare, Medicaid Would be Cut $196 Billion Over 5 Years Under Bush Budget Plan
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| President Bush took his proposals to slow Medicare and Medicaid spending to a new scale in his proposed 2009 budget even though previous, more modest efforts to trim the entitlement programs went nowhere.
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| Open |
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February 4, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| N |
| New Safety Program to Monitor Medicare Drug Use
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| Federal health officials will begin monitoring prescription drug usage by millions of Medicare participants in an effort to identify potential safety problems.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
May 23, 2008 |
Provides Information |
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| Prescription Solutions from PacifiCare
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| The new Medicare Prescription Drug Program - Medicare Part D - is making prescription drug coverage available to more than 40 million people across the country.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
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Provides a Service |
| Pros and Cons of Private Medicare Advantage Plans
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| Who should take advantage of these all-in-one senior health care plans?
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| Open |
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January 24, 2008 |
Provides Information |
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| Senate passes Medicare bill with Kennedy's help
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| A Medicare bill opposed by the White House won final congressional approval on Wednesday with the help of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who returned to the Senate floor for the first time since brain surgery last month.
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| Open |
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July 9, 2008 |
Provides Information |
| Study shows generics now own 63% of Medicare Part D market
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| Wolters Kluwer Health, a division of Wolters Kluwer, has released the results of a study that looks at key statistical outcomes of the Medicare Part D (MPD) prescription drug program.
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| Open |
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June 23, 2008 |
Provides Information |
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| The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP)
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| has counselors in every State and several Territories that are available to provide free one-on-one help with your Medicare questions or problems.
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| Open |
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Provides Information |
| U |
| U.S. Faces $45 Trillion Gap Over Next 75 Years on Entitlements
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| The government is promising $45 trillion more than it can deliver on Social Security, Medicare and other benefit programs.
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| Open |
Open Tab |
December 17, 2007 |
Provides Information |
| W |
| What Does That Medicare Plan Really Offer?
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| The local newspaper is carrying an ad for a Humana Medicare plan that boasts "no monthly premium." How can that be?
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December 13, 2007 |
Provides Information |