Surviving spouses of patients who received hospice care for three or more days more frequently reported reduced depressive symptoms after the patient’s death compared to spouses of patients who did not receive hospice, according to a study by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers. The findings were published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine. (more…)
A USA Today article noted: “Eight million people have signed up for subsidized private health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, President Obama said this month. Millions more obtained new coverage through the Medicaid program for the poor. Full implementation of the health law and its wider coverage, new taxes and shifting subsidies have renewed discussions of winners and losers, makers and moochers”
“Here’s a corrective to common misconceptions about who pays for health care. (more…)
A Bloomberg article noted: “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has identified ambulance service as one of the biggest areas of overuse and abuse in Medicare — companies billing millions for trips by patients who can walk, sit, stand or even drive their own cars.”
“‘It’s a cash cow,’ said Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Leahy … ‘It’s basically like a taxi service except an extremely expensive one that the taxpayers are financing.'” (more…)
The Mount Sinai Health System and Healthfirst, a leading managed care organization serving more than one million members in downstate New York, have launched a unique, co-branded Medicare Advantage (MA) insurance plan for Manhattan residents. Eligible Medicare beneficiaries can enroll in Healthfirst Mount Sinai Select (HMO) between October 15 and December 7, 2014, for coverage effective January 1, 2015.
The Modern Healthcare article noted “overuse for more than two dozen cancer screening, imaging, diagnostic, preventive or preoperative testing services and found it totaled 0.6% of Medicare spending.”
“The results underscore the potential for savings from efforts to eliminate medical care that has been identified by previous research as unnecessary, and wasteful, such as colorectal screening among those age 85 and older with no history of colon cancer.”