Medicare

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

Most Idaho nursing home workers unvaccinated for COVID-19

Jun. 21, 2021 04:58 PM EDT
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Less than half of nursing home workers in Idaho have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...

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

Reminder: Masks still required in healthcare settings

Jun. 18, 2021 04:01 PM EDT
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Wearing a mask is still required in a healthcare setting and is still one of the most effective tools in preventing the spread of COVID-19...

GOP needs new health care target; 'Obamacare' survives again

By Alan Fram Jun. 18, 2021 12:35 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

Cemetery and funeral workers place the coffin of a man who died of COVID-19 into a niche at the Nuestra Señora de Belen cemetery in Fusagasuga, Colombia, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)

The Latest: Pot-for-shots plan stumbles in Washington state

By The Associated Press Jun. 09, 2021 01:58 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

A free-standing emergency room, one of nine owned by UCHealth and part of the University of Colorado, is seen in the Denver suburb of Arvada, Colo., on May 16, 2021. The health system has converted 10 other stand-alone emergency rooms into other uses, mostly primary care or urgent care centers, in the past two years. (Markian Hawryluk/Kaiser Health News via AP)

Colorado offers to pay hospitals to close free-standing ERs

By Phil Galewitz May. 24, 2021 12:12 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

CVS Pharmacy on Moosic Street is illuminated at night, Wednesday, April 21, 2021, in Scranton, Pa. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP)

After an 11% profit spike, CVS outlook for 2021 grows rosy

By Tom Murphy May. 04, 2021 07:02 AM EDT

Hassan, Shaheen, support expansion of telehealth services

May. 03, 2021 02:39 PM EDT
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A bill supported by U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire would expand coverage of telehealth services through...

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...

Montana lawmakers approve governor's changes to vaccine bill

By Amy Beth Hanson Apr. 29, 2021 11:44 AM EDT
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana lawmakers have approved amendments proposed by Gov. Greg Gianforte to a bill aimed at preventing discrimination based on a person...