Medicare health plans

FILE - In this April 17, 2020, file photo, a patient is loaded into an ambulance by emergency medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by more than 30% last year, with two devastating surges eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most complete assessment yet of the ravages of COVID-19 among its most vulnerable victims. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Watchdog: Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Jun. 22, 2021 12:02 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. The Supreme Court’s latest rejection of a Republican effort to dismantle “Obamacare” is the latest sign that the GOP must look beyond repealing that law if it wants to hone the nation’s health care problems into a winning political issue. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Democrats see springboard for health care in high court win

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Jun. 19, 2021 08:38 AM EDT

Bill would permanently expand telehealth services

Jun. 13, 2021 03:18 PM EDT
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A new bill in Washington would permanently expand telehealth services under Medicare and allow patients in rural areas without access to...

In this May 13, 2021 photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats are committed to passing legislation this year to curb prescription drug prices. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing legislation that imposes a steep tax on drugmakers refusing to deal with Medicare. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

To curb drug prices, Democrats still seeking a balance

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Jun. 12, 2021 08:11 AM EDT

In this image provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, federal agents from Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General engage in search warrant operations at a laboratory in Atlanta. More than 35 individuals associated with telemedicine companies and cancer genetic testing laboratories were charged for actions related to fraudulent genetic testing. The Justice Department announced charges on May 26, 2021, against more than a dozen people from Florida to California in a series of Medicare scams that exploited coronavirus fears to bill tens of millions of dollars in bogus claims. (Department of Health and Human Services via AP)

Feds take down Medicare scams that preyed on virus fears

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar May. 26, 2021 01:26 PM EDT

Maine pols want more telehealth; COVID-19 decline continues

By Patrick Whittle May. 19, 2021 01:45 AM EDT
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's U.S. senators are joining a push to make the use of telehealth easier as the country moves beyond the coronavirus pandemic. ...

In this April 7, 2021 photo, a senior receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at the Aaron E. Henry Community Health Service Center, in Clarksdale, Miss. Medicare will require nursing homes to report COVID-19 vaccination rates for residents and staff, the government said Tuesday, in what officials hope will become an incentive to keep giving shots even as the worst ravages of the pandemic ease in facilities across the land.(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Medicare requires nursing homes to report COVID vaccinations

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar May. 11, 2021 11:15 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2021, file photo Edouard Joseph, 91, right, clasps his hands as geriatrician Megan Young, left, prepares to give him a COVID-19 vaccination at his home in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston. A majority of Americans agree that government should help people fulfill a widely held aspiration to age in their own homes, not institutional settings, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

AP-NORC poll: Government should help Americans age at home

By Emily Swanson And Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar May. 03, 2021 08:03 AM EDT

Phone scammers take advantage of Wyoming information breach

Apr. 30, 2021 04:01 PM EDT
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Telephone scammers are trying to take advantage of an accidental Wyoming Department of Health data release affecting over a quarter of...

FILE - In this March 29, 2021 file photo, a worker readies syringes with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Metairie, La. Testing and vaccination for the coronavirus are free thanks to federal law. Treatment for the illness isn’t and may be about to get more expensive as more people get vaccinated and insurers scale back their coverage. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Millennial Money: Prepare for COVID medical bills this year

By Amrita Jayakumar Of Nerdwallet Mar. 30, 2021 06:55 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 18, 2021, file photo, Mary Claire Lane, 86, left, a resident at Hellenic Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Canton, Mass., is greeted by her daughter Anne Darling, of Attleboro, Mass., center, during a visit, at the nursing home, in Canton. Nursing homes have to publicly disclose their vaccination rates for flu and pneumonia, but there’s no similar mandate for COVID-19 shots. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Lawmakers: Require nursing homes to disclose vaccine data

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Mar. 25, 2021 12:27 AM EDT

FILE - This undated file photo provided by NerdWallet shows Liz Weston, a columnist for personal finance website NerdWallet.com. (NerdWallet via AP, File)

Liz Weston: What gig workers need to know about taxes

By Liz Weston Of Nerdwallet Feb. 08, 2021 07:00 AM EST

Chef Jermaine Wall stacks containers of soups at Community Servings, which prepares and delivers scratch-made, medically tailored meals to individuals & families living with critical & chronic illnesses, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Food is a growing focus for insurers as they look to improve the health of the people they cover and cut costs. Insurers first started covering Community Servings meals about five years ago, and CEO David Waters says they now cover close to 40%. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Insurers add food to coverage menu as way to improve health

By Tom Murphy Jan. 23, 2021 08:53 AM EST

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden arrive for a COVID-19 memorial event at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden charts new US direction, promises many Trump reversals

By Bill Barrow Jan. 20, 2021 12:16 AM EST

Hospitals can care for Medicare patients at home in pandemic

By Linda A. Johnson Nov. 25, 2020 04:30 PM EST
Hospitals will be allowed to care for Medicare patients in their own homes during the pandemic under a government program announced Wednesday to help hospitals...