The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
³Ō¹Ļ²»“ņģČā coverage related to aging and improving care of older adults is supported in part by .
241 - 260 of 897 Results
Before the covid-19 public health emergency ended, Medicare advocates around the country noticed a rise in complaints from beneficiaries who received at-home covid tests they never requested. Bad actors may have used seniorsā Medicare information to improperly bill the federal government ā and could do it again, say federal investigators.
As your circle of close friends shrinks, there are ways to rebuild ā but not replace ā the social network you had when you were younger.
In a nation with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, imprisonment speeds the aging process, research shows. Some experts complain the federal government isnāt collecting or releasing data that could identify disease patterns and prevent deaths.
Californians 85 and older are especially susceptible to malnutrition. They accounted for almost three in five malnutrition deaths in the state last year.
Persistent fatigue ā the feeling of having no energy ā can contribute to frailty and affects 40% to 74% of older patients with chronic illness. Yet its causes can be elusive.
At least eight states have implemented or are considering limits on what patients can be billed for the use of a hospitalās facilities even without having stepped foot in the building.
Itās about the money ā on both sides ā as arguments swirl about patient safety, rising prices, and paying back on-the-job training.
Researchers are identifying new ways to assess older adultsā social circumstances and identify risks that can compromise their health. āItās a more complete picture of older adultsā circumstances than any one factor alone,ā one expert said.
The May 11 expiration of the federal governmentās pandemic emergency declaration will affect patient care across a broad range of settings, including telemedicine, hospitals, and nursing homes.
In-person mental health care is hard to arrange in rural nursing homes, so video chats with faraway professionals are filling the gap.
Older people often arenāt being screened for anxiety disorders, even though it is a common affliction ā one masked by other problems when growing old.
States take drastically different approaches to recovering Medicaid money from deceased participantsā estates. Demands for repayment of Medicaid spending can drain the assets a person leaves behind, depending on where they lived.
Medi-Cal serves more than one-third of the stateās population ā offering a dizzying range of care to a diverse population. In the new āFaces of Medi-Calā series, California Healthline will assess the programās strengths and weaknesses through the lives and experiences of its enrollees.
California has enrolled into Medi-Cal more than 300,000 older immigrant adults lacking legal residency since May, but the state doesnāt know how many more might be eligible. Community workers are now searching for them.
Programs assisting people with dementia ā and their caregivers ā improve quality of life and care. But millions of unpaid family and friend caregivers may not know where or how to find help.
Lawmakers are considering creating standards to set Medicaid reimbursement rates. But industry observers wonder whether the move would be too little, too late to bolster a beleaguered industry.
Rather than simply reward top-performing facilities, the stateās Medicaid program will hand bonuses to nursing homes ā even low-rated ones ā for hiring more workers and reducing staff turnover.
CMS advanced two proposed changes that could affect Medicare Advantage plans. One would allow the government to recover past overpayments. As a result, it could reduce those insurersā profits, leading them to increase enrollees' out-of-pocket costs or reduce benefits. But it's inaccurate to characterize the changes as "cuts."
The First Step Act was supposed to help free terminally ill and aging federal inmates who pose little or no threat to public safety. But while petitions for compassionate release skyrocketed during the pandemic, judges denied most requests.
When Medicare stops paying for a pricey drug that prolongs life, an Ohio man considers giving up treatment to spare his family enormous debt.
Ā© 2026 KFF