By Matthew Perrone, AP; The Washington Post ~ Apr 02, 2015

A medical emergency leaves you with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid hospital bills. Your health insurance company rejects coverage for an important medical test. An unexpected diagnosis requires you to find three new medical specialists.

In today’s health care system, consumers are increasingly on their own when these complex — and often costly — medical problems arise. Primary care doctors once helped patients manage such situations, but many physicians now have 15 minutes or less for each appointment. It’s in this high-pressure environment that a new industry of patient advocates — sometimes called patient navigators — has emerged, offering to help guide patients through knotty health situations.

By Nanci Hellmich; USA TODAY ~ Apr 02, 2015

Although some people want to move to a warmer climate or exotic locale in retirement, for most folks, their current home is where their heart is.

They want to age in place, continuing to live in their home or at least in the same community. And they’re not afraid to remodel and try new technologies to make that happen, new research shows. They’d even be willing to have a cleaning robot or heated driveway.

Associated Press – April 1, 2015

Congress will get a little extra time to prevent a threatened 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors.

Technically, the cut was to take effect Wednesday.

But the Department of Health and Human Services said it will hold off processing claims at the lower rate until April 15.

By Jon Brodkin; Ars Technica ~ Apr 01, 2015

A federal judge has rejected AT&T’s claim that it can’t be sued by the Federal Trade Commission, which is trying to put a stop to the carrier’s throttling of unlimited data plans.

The FTC sued AT&T in October 2014, saying the company deceived customers by offering unlimited data plans and then throttling data speeds once customers hit certain usage thresholds, such as 3GB or 5GB in a month. AT&T claimed in January that because it is a common carrier, it isn’t subject to FTC jurisdiction.

By Richard Pollock; The Daily Caller ~ Mar 31, 2015

The acting head of the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services has attracted the attention of two powerful senators, who are now demanding answers about whether Andy Slavitt has been compromised by personally accepting millions of dollars from the health industry.

By Ali Meyer; Cybercast News Service ~ Mar 31, 2015

(CNSNews.com) – Tax Freedom Day will arrive this year on April 24 – 114 days into the year – according to a report from the Tax Foundation.

“Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its federal, state, and local tax bill for the year,” explained the Tax Foundation. “Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income. In 2015, Americans will pay $3.28 trillion in federal taxes and $1.57 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $4.85 trillion, or 31 percent of national income. This year, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 24, or 114 days into the year.

By Tom Howell Jr.; The Washington Times ~ Mar 29, 2015

Full payments for doctors who treat Medicare patients run out on April 1, but the Obama administration has a two-week grace period before it would actually have to begin cutting payments, giving Congress a short window next month to fix the problem before earning the ire of physicians nationwide.

The House has acted, passing a bill that would permanently ensure full payments. But senators skipped town early Friday morning for a two-week spring break without taking action on the bill, leaving the doctors in limbo.

By Peter Sullivan; The Hill ~ Mar 28, 2015

A few days after the chaos of a failed vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Speaker John Boehner asked for a meeting, alone, with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Compromise was on his mind.

With automatic cuts to doctors under Medicare set to take effect at the end of March, Boehner (R-Ohio) wanted to explore the possibility of a deal that would end the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), and with it a problem that has dogged Congress for nearly two decades.

By John W. Schoen, CNBC; USA TODAY ~ Mar 28, 2015

These days, a pension just isn’t what it used to be.

For generations, a defined benefit pension — a fixed monthly check for life — provided an ironclad promise of a secure income for millions of retired American workers. But today, that promise has been badly corroded by decades of underfunding that have undermined what was one of the cornerstones of the American dream.

By Brian Tumulty; USA TODAY ~ Mar 26, 2015

WASHINGTON — Medicare recipients with income over $85,000 would begin paying higher Part B premiums in 2018 under legislation passed by the House Thursday to avert a cut in physician reimbursements.

The legislation, approved in a lopsided 392-37 vote, is expected to also receive broad bipartisan support in the Senate.