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Kaiser Health News

Biography: The editorially independent news organization delivers important coverage of health care policy and politics for older Americans.

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Kidney Donation Over Age 70? Some Saying, ‘Yes, Please’

Posted on 01/29/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthBy Judith Graham for Kaiser Health News This story was produced in collaboration with The Washington Post. Robert Brown was healthy, willing and a good match: So why not give a kidney to his wife, who otherwise would need dialysis? But Brown was 74, an age once unthinkable for a kidney donor. For this retired psychologist from Columbia, that wasn’t an issue. “I didn’t think about the age thing, not at all,” Brown said, describing his decision two years ago …

Kidney Sharing System May Change to Better Accommodate Older Patients

Posted on 01/29/2013 by | Health | Comments

Personal HealthBy Judith Graham for Kaiser Health News This story was produced in collaboration with The Washington Post.   Kidneys from deceased donors are carefully rationed under rules established by the nonprofit United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS. The system is set up so that kidneys go to people who have spent the longest time on waiting lists and who are a good match, with provisions made for distributing organs to patients within the same region, when possible. That method …

Long-Term Care Ombudsmen Face Challenges To Independence

Posted on 01/28/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin TodayBy Jenni Bergal for Kaiser Health News This story was produced in collaboration with USA Today. The 2.3 million elderly or disabled people living in nursing homes or assisted living centers might not know it, but they’ve got an advocate — someone who’s supposed to be looking out for their health, safety and rights. In 2011, state long-term care ombudsmen — assisted by hundreds of local ombudsmen programs and thousands of volunteers — responded to 204,000 complaints nationwide. They ranged …

Poll: Americans Want Deficit Addressed Without Medicare Cuts

Posted on 01/25/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsBy Mary Agnes Carey, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News Most Americans want quick action to reduce the federal budget deficit, but almost six in 10 oppose cutting Medicare spending to achieve that goal, according to a new poll released today. Lawmakers should examine other alternatives, including requiring drug makers to give the government “a better deal” on medications for low-income seniors (85 percent) and making higher-income seniors pay more for coverage (59 percent), according to the survey conducted by the …

Cracks Appearing In GOP Opposition To Health Law

Posted on 01/23/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | PoliticsBy Phil Galewitz, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News This story was produced in collaboration with USA Today. JACKSON, Miss. — Gov. Phil Bryant and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney have known each other for 30 years and call themselves friends. Now, though, a wedge has come between the two elected Republicans: President Barack Obama’s health law. Bryant is trying to stop Chaney from creating a critical feature of the Affordable Care Act — an online health insurance marketplace that will allow an …

A New Way to Bring Down Health Costs?

Posted on 01/23/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin TodayBy Ankita Rao of Kaiser Health News A pilot program introduced by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to boost quality of care for older Americans by developing community-wide approaches to health problems could play a key role in bringing down costs, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Quality Improvement Organizations, or QIOs, are private groups in each state and U.S. territory that contract with the government for three years to …

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