Medicare
COVID-19-related care for Medicare beneficiaries cost $6.3B in 2020
The costs of COVID-19-related care that was provided to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries between April 2020 and December 2020 totaled $6.3 billion, according to researchers.
Medicare patients with schizophrenia, particularly young adults, at increased suicide risk
Medicare patients with schizophrenia had increased risk for suicide, with young adults having the highest absolute and relative risk, according to study results published in JAMA Psychiatry.
BLOG: LipiFlow on the brink, part 1: How it happened
This is how I imagine things must work in the bowels of the companies charged with administering Medicare benefits, the so-called MACs:*
Study: Medicare reimbursement for septic revision TKA has not kept up with inflation
Report reveals geographic, racial disparities in fracture rates for older Americans
A report from the National Osteoporosis Foundation details fracture rates for all 50 U.S. states and highlights ethnic and racial disparities among Medicare beneficiaries for hospitalization, mortality and health costs.
Study finds disparity between hospital, surgeon reimbursements for hip fracture fixation
Despite improvements in procedural efficiency and length of stay, hospital charges and payments have increased relative to surgeon charges and payments after surgical fixation of hip fractures, according to published results.
Outpatient shoulder arthroplasty may be safe for Medicare patients
Medicare patients may be able to safely undergo outpatient shoulder arthroplasty despite a more severe comorbidity burden, according to results presented at the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Specialty Day Meeting.
Requesting generic drugs could save Medicare program $1.7 billion
By substituting branded drugs requested by prescribers for generic versions, Medicare could have saved $997 million and patients could have saved $161 million in 2017, according to research published in JAMA Network Open.
Mortality after kidney transplant twice as high with care through Medicare vs VA system
The 5-year mortality rate for veterans who received care through Medicare after undergoing kidney transplantation was double that of those who received care through the Veterans Health Administration, study results showed.
Survey finds key groups less accepting of COVID-19 vaccine
Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries were less likely to say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine than white recipients despite being more likely to recognize COVID-19’s increased severity compared with influenza, a survey showed.