For years, Larry Gruber used coupon cards from a drugmaker to help him meet his insurance plan’s out-of-pocket maximum, reducing his cost for psoriatic arthritis medication to $0 for the rest of the year. This year, his new health insurer, Oscar HMO of Florida, pocketed the coupon card and made Gruber use his own money to meet the cost-sharing requirements. (Scott McIntyre for KFF Health News)...
Dozens of doctors are routinely performing risky vascular procedures in medical offices, generating tens of millions of dollars in Medicare payments for potentially unnecessary procedures, according to a federal report released last month. The review, completed by the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services, flagged nearly 140 doctors across the country as...
(Heidi de Marco/KFF Health News) ~~~~~ Complaints about hospital food are certainly not new, and Jell-O and fruit juice are often the butt of related jokes. But the Trump administration has recently upped the ante. It is urging the public to report hospitals and nursing homes that serve sugary drinks, nutrition shakes, or meals that it says don’t meet dietary guidelines established last year by...
The vagus nerve, which carries information between the brain and heart, lungs and other organs, might regulate the activity of a tiny brain region called the locus coeruleus. Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images ~~~~~ Elizabeth Riley, Cornell University Most people think of Alzheimer’s disease as an illness of aging. But in fact, the brain changes that characterize it begin...
Cape Coral continues to rank among the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and its expanding population of older adults highlights a growing need across Southwest Florida for accessible, compassionate end-of-life care. To help meet this need, VITAS Healthcare has opened a new administrative office in Cape Coral. The additional location means patients and families throughout Lee County...
Introduction In the world of intellectual property, the patent is king. It is the shiny, government-stamped document that investors love to see. But sometimes, the smartest move isn’t to tell the world how you did it. sometimes, the best protection is silence. This brings us to the trade secret, the quiet, often misunderstood sibling of the patent family. While patents grant you a monopoly in...
