Readers and Tweeters Have Mental Health Care on Their Minds
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Aging
341 - 360 of 1,284 Results
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As Covid Slogs On, Seniors Find Fortitude Waning and Malaise Growing
The spread of the omicron variant has dashed the hopes of many older adults that the country was exiting the worst of the pandemic, leaving them anxious while their patience wears thin.
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Inside the Tactical Tug of War Over the Controversial Alzheimers Drug
An epic battle is playing out behind the scenes over whether the government should pay for Aduhelm, an FDA-approved Alzheimers drug that scientists say has not been proven to work.
By Arthur Allen -
KHNs What the Health?: FDA Takes Center Stage
Congress is set to start its once-every-five-years review of the law that authorizes user fees to finance the hiring of personnel to speed the FDA review of drugs. The periodic renewals of PDUFA also give lawmakers a chance to make other changes to the agency at the hub of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the FDA could also find itself at the center of the abortion debate and a controversial new medication to treat Alzheimers disease. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
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Pandemic-Fueled Shortages of Home Health Workers Strand Patients Without Necessary Care
Home health and hospice agencies are experiencing extreme worker shortages, which means they cant provide services to all the patients seeking care.
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At Nursing Homes, Long Waits for Results Render Covid Tests Useless
As omicron surges, more nursing homes are facing a double whammy: Lab tests are taking too long, and fast antigen tests are in short supply.
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In California Nursing Homes, Omicron Is Bad, but So Is the Isolation
Omicron infections are surging in residential care facilities, causing massive sickouts among staff members and an uptick in hospitalizations and deaths. The latest visitor restrictions and testing requirements are also compounding the isolation that residents have suffered for almost two years.
By Linda Marsa -
Medicare Patients Win the Right to Appeal Gap in Nursing Home Coverage
If federal officials accept a courts decision, some patients will get a chance to seek refunds for their nursing home and other expenses.
By Susan Jaffe -
Readers and Tweeters: Give Nurse Practitioners Their Due
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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Why Medicare Doesnt Pay for Rapid At-Home Covid Tests
The laws governing Medicare dont provide coverage for self-administered diagnostic tests, which is precisely what the rapid antigen tests are and why they are an important tool for containing the pandemic.
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Families Complain as States Require Covid Testing for Nursing Home Visits
Relatives say it is important they be allowed to go into nursing homes because staff shortages are affecting care. And many are still upset about lengthy separations from loved ones during lockdowns earlier in the pandemic.
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KHNs What the Health?: Dealing With Drug Prices
Medicare officials tentatively plan to restrict the use of a controversial Alzheimers drug to only those patients participating in clinical trials, while the Department of Health and Human Services looks into lowering the monthly Medicare Part B premium. Meanwhile, covid confusion still reigns, as the Biden administration moves, belatedly, to make more masks and tests available. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHNs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
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Black-Owned Hospice Seeks to Bring Greater Ease in Dying to Black Families
National data shows that Black Medicare patients and their families are not making the move to comfort care as often as white patients are. Experts speculate it's related to spiritual beliefs and widespread mistrust in the medical system due to decades of discrimination.
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A New Paradigm Is Needed: Top Experts Question the Value of Advance Care Planning
Prominent researchers say the nationwide effort to get people to spell out how they want to be treated as they die is not improving patients care.
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As Covid Hits Nursing Homes Finances, Town Residents Fight to Save Alzheimers Facility
Fear of covid has kept some adults from moving to nursing homes, and many facilities are in trouble financially. When Nevada, Missouri, officials announced they were planning to close a home specializing in dementia care, members of the community rose up in protest.
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Nursing Homes Bleed Staff as Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages
Add nursing homes to the list of industries jolted by Amazons handsome hourly wages. Enticed by an average starting pay rate of $18 an hour and the potential for benefits and signing bonuses, low-wage workers are fleeing entry-level elder care for jobs packing boxes.
By Sarah Varney -
Seeking Refills: Aging Pharmacists Leave Drugstores Vacant in Rural America
Independent pharmacists who want to retire often have trouble attracting new pharmacists to take over their practices, particularly in rural areas. That can cause smaller towns to lose their pharmacies. With many pharmacists near retirement, the problem may only get worse.
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After Truly Appalling Death Toll in Nursing Homes, California Rethinks Their Funding
California wants to hold nursing homes accountable for the quality of care they provide by tying Medicaid funding more directly to performance. But the nursing home industry, an influential player in the Capitol, is gearing up for a fight.
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Q&A
Wartime Trauma Hits Close to Home for Scholar of Dementia
The federal government is putting up $7.2 million for a study into the correlation between war trauma and dementia in Vietnamese immigrants. Oahn Meyer, an associate professor at the University of California-Davis who is leading the study, wonders whether her mothers dementia is linked to trauma she suffered during the Vietnam War.
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West Virginia Sen. Manchin Takes the Teeth Out of Democrats Plan for Seniors Dental Care
In West Virginia, older residents often go without dental care, and a quarter of people 65 and older have no natural teeth, the highest rate of any state in the country. But a powerful senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has rebuffed efforts to add a dental benefit to Medicare.