Susan Jaffe, KFF Health News

Susan Jaffe

KFF Health News

Washington, DC, United States

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Past:
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Past articles by Susan:

Medicare Plan Finder Likely Won’t Note New $35 Cap on Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs

In August, Congress approved a $35 cap on what seniors will pay for insulin, but that change came too late to add to the online tool that helps Medicare beneficiaries compare dozens of drug and med… → Read More

After Congress Fails to Add Dental Coverage, Medicare Weighs Limited Benefit Expansion

Medicare can pay for some dental care if it is medically necessary to safely treat another covered medical condition, and federal officials have asked for suggestions on whether that list of condit… → Read More

Nursing Home Surprise: Advantage Plans May Shorten Stays to Less Time Than Medicare Covers

Private Medicare Advantage health plans are increasingly ending coverage for skilled nursing or rehab services before medical providers think patients are healthy enough to go home, doctors and pat… → Read More

Medicaid Weighs Attaching Strings to Nursing Home Payments to Improve Patient Care

The Biden administration is considering whether Medicaid, which pays the bills for 62% of nursing home residents, should require that most of that funding be used to provide care, rather than for m… → Read More

Medicare Surprise: Drug Plan Prices Touted During Open Enrollment Can Rise Within a Month

Even the savviest Medicare drug plan shoppers can get a shock when they fill prescriptions: That great deal on medications is no bargain after prices go up. → Read More

NPR

Drug plan prices touted during Medicare open enrollment can rise within a month

Even the savviest Medicare drug plan shoppers can get a shock when they fill prescriptions: That great deal on medications in fall is no bargain after prices go up as much as 8% by winter. → Read More

Medicare Surprise: Drug Plan Prices Touted During Open Enrollment Can Rise Within a Month

Even the savviest Medicare drug plan shoppers can get a shock when they fill prescriptions: That great deal on medications is no bargain after prices go up. → Read More

Seeking to Shift Costs to Medicare, More Employers Move Retirees to Advantage Plans

Private and public employers are increasingly using the government’s Medicare Advantage program as an alternative to their existing retiree health plan and traditional Medicare coverage. As a resul… → Read More

Medicare patients win the right to appeal gap in nursing home coverage

A three-judge federal appeals court panel in Connecticut has likely ended an 11-year fight against a frustrating and confusing rule that left hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries without… → Read More

Medicare Patients Win the Right to Appeal Gap in Nursing Home Coverage

If federal officials accept a court’s decision, some patients will get a chance to seek refunds for their nursing home and other expenses. → Read More

Medicare’s open enrollment is open season for scammers

Finding the best private Medicare drug or medical insurance plan among dozens of choices is tough enough without throwing misleading sales tactics into the mix. → Read More

Medicare’s Open Enrollment Is Open Season for Scammers

Medicare officials say complaints are rising from seniors lured into private plans with misleading information or enrolled without their consent. In response, officials have threatened to penalize … → Read More

3 States Limit Nursing Home Profits in Bid to Improve Care

Following the devastating impact of covid-19 on nursing homes, state lawmakers want to be sure that government and private payments primarily go to improve care and staffing. → Read More

After Pandemic Ravaged Nursing Homes, New State Laws Protect Residents

This year, 23 states passed more than 70 pandemic-related provisions affecting nursing homes, including measures setting minimum staffing levels, expanding visitation protections and limiting owner… → Read More

Zooming Into the Statehouse: Nursing Home Residents Use New Digital Skills to Push for Changes

Connecticut residents who learned how to communicate with family and friends through digital technology when their nursing homes closed to visitors last year used that skill to testify remotely dur… → Read More

Under new cost-cutting Medicare rule, same surgery, same place, different bill

A cost-saving change in Medicare launched in the final days of the Trump administration will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures while potentially raising costs and confusion for… → Read More

Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill

A Trump administration Medicare rule will push some hospital patients into a Catch-22: The government says several hundred procedures no longer need to be done in a hospital, but it did not approve… → Read More

As Congress Weighs COVID Liability Protections, States Shield Health Providers

Under pressure from organizations representing doctors, nurses, hospitals and other care providers, a handful of states are offering them protections from civil lawsuits over medical treatment. → Read More

Federal Judge Rules Medicare Patients Can Challenge ‘Observation Care’ Status

Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to appeal hospitals’ decisions to classify them as “observation care” patients instead of inpatients, under a ruling last week in a class action suit.… → Read More

Website Errors Raise Calls For Medicare To Be Flexible With Seniors’ Enrollment

Members of Congress and others complain Medicare’s revamped Plan Finder had problems. Federal officials say they can help consumers who got bad information change their plans next year. But details about how switching will work are yet to come. → Read More