patients

89 Charged in Medicare Fraud Busts in 8 Cities

Posted on 05/15/2013 by Associated Press | General News | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | PoliticsBy Kelli Kennedy and Pete Yost, The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 100 people, including 14 doctors and nurses, were charged for their roles in separate Medicare scams that collectively billed the taxpayer-funded program for roughly $223 million in bogus charges in a massive bust spanning eight cities, federal authorities said Tuesday. It was the latest in a string of similar announcements by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder as federal authorities crack …

Will Surprise Hospital Costs Be Outlawed?

Posted on 05/3/2013 by Kaiser Health News | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | PoliticsBy Susan Jaffe This Kaiser Health News story produced in collaboration with USA Today After Lois Frarie, a 93-year-old retired teacher from Monterey, Calif., spent four days at a local hospital while being treated for a broken elbow and pelvis, she went to a nearby nursing home to build up her strength. But her family was stunned to find out that they would have to pay thousands of dollars up front since two of the days she spent in the …

The Takeaway: Hospital Lets Artists Paint, Perform to Pay Medical Bills

Posted on 06/29/2012 by Elizabeth Brown | Brooklyn, NY | Comments

News RoundupsA Bronx hospital is launching a program that lets artistic patients knock $40 off their medical bills for every hour they spend providing some other “creative activity or service” at the hospital. The Lincoln Art Exchange, at the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, is essentially a bartering program where actors, musicians, dancers, writers and visual artists can trade their talents for medical care.

Three Ideas That Thwart Solutions to the Medical Care Crisis

Posted on 05/31/2012 by Carole Carson | Fat to Fit | Comments

Personal HealthThe medical delivery system is under pressure to provide quality health care despite these dire trends: · Reduced access because of the closing of community hospitals and low-cost clinics, · Staggering increases in the cost of drugs, medical treatment and insurance, · An increasing reluctance of HMO’s to refer patients to specialists, and · A dramatic increase in the number of uninsured, now estimated at 50 million and growing. I could also mention the loss of physicians who are retiring …

The Takeaway: Hospitals Open Seniors-Only Emergency Rooms

Posted on 04/10/2012 by Elizabeth Brown | Brooklyn, NY | Comments

News RoundupsEmergency Rooms of Their Own: A growing number of American hospitals have been debuting emergency rooms designed specifically for older adults, generally those 65 and up. Special accommodations include things like nonskid floors, rails along the walls, extra heating units, thicker mattresses to reduce bedsores and artificial skylights intended to combat “sundowning.”