By Lisa Ward; The Wall Street Journal ~ Apr 23, 2017
As baby boomers increasingly assist their elderly parents with health issues large and small, families are having to rethink personal boundaries.
Should a son accompanying his mother on a visit to her primary-care physician reveal that she is struggling with depression? Is it any business of an elderly man’s family that he is using Viagra?
By Matt Sedensky; The Associated Press ~ Apr 22, 2017
NEW YORK (AP) — The phone call came as Raymond Murray neared the bottom of his luck. His wife had died, his career had been ended by injuries, and struggling to get by on his disability check, he had scraped together just enough to pay a lawyer to avoid imminent foreclosure on his modest Brooklyn home.
By Janet Morrissey; The New York Times ~ Apr 21, 2017
When G. Andrews Smith of Dallas received a phone call in 2015 telling him that his brother-in-law had been in a life-threatening motorcycle accident and was unconscious at a hospital in Akron, Ohio, Mr. Smith and his wife, Patty, rushed to his side. But they quickly learned that family members had no say in his medical treatment because he was unmarried and had no living will outlining his wishes or giving power of attorney to a relative.
From Maria Yao; Forbes ~ Apr 15, 2017
How much is your life worth to hackers? On the black market, the going rate for your social security number is 10 cents. Your credit card number is worth 25 cents. But your electronic medical health record (EHR) could be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
From Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk; Morning Consult ~ Apr 14, 2017
Heart disease claims the lives of more women than any other illness — more than all types of cancer combined — so let’s set straight the myth that heart disease is a man’s disease. While an estimated 80 percent of heart disease is preventable, cardiovascular disease among women remains an invisible disease in the national conversation.
By Jay L. Zagorsky; MarketWatch ~ Apr 13, 2017
How the breakdown of tax revenue has shifted over time
Tax day is here once more, and tens of millions of Americans will rush to file their income taxes by this year’s deadline of April 18 (rather than April 15 for a variety of reasons).
Although most of us probably identify the federal income tax with the revenue that ultimately fills the government’s coffers and allows it to spend our hard-earned cash, it actually makes up less than half of all revenue.
By Lauren Clason; The Hill ~ Apr 13, 2017
A far-reaching Medicare payment proposal cleared a crucial hurdle this week, as the federal health program seeks to reward doctors for keeping patients healthy.
The pitch from the American College of Surgeons would allow more than 75 different specialty doctors to participate in Medicare’s new value-based payment system. Specialty physicians have been largely left out of the system, commonly known as MACRA after the bill that created it.
By Ilene MacDonald; FierceHealthcare ~ Apr 13, 2017
They may have insurance but many patients can’t afford hospital services and the unpaid bills have led healthcare organizations across the country to come up with new payment strategies, including no-interest loans and requirements that patients pay for the care in advance.
From Kevin Prindiville; The Hill ~ Apr 12, 2017
When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935, poverty among older Americans stood at more than 50 percent. Social Security was enacted as a promise to the citizens of this country that, when they could no longer work, they would still be able to meet their basic needs and live a life of dignity and self-sufficiency in retirement.
By Lois Rudick Hall; MarketWatch ~ Apr 12, 2017
This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org.
If you’ve ever been a patient, you know how expensive being a patient can be. If you’re responsible for paying a high deductible or other out-of-pocket expenses, you’re certainly familiar with the financial burden.
