As Hearing Fades With Age, Dementia Risk May Rise | U.S. News and World Report
Age can often bring a loss of hearing, and for some, mental decline in the form of dementia. But are the two linked? New research does suggest that hearing loss raises the odds for dementia, but the jury is still out on whether one condition actually causes the other, experts say. According to a team of Irish researchers at Trinity College Dublin, approximately one-third of adults older than 65 years experiences age-related hearing loss. And prior research suggests that a loss of hearing often — but not always — precedes the onset of dementia by about 5 to 10 years.
The Republican War on Children | The New York Times
Health care for a thousand kids, or tax breaks for one wealthy heir? The G.O.P. prefers the second.
Millennials Study: ‘Snowflake’ Label Hurts Our Mental Health | CBS4 WBZ
Millennials have been labeled by many of their critics as a generation of “snowflakes.” The term has been used to slam society’s young adults and teens as hypersensitive and too easily offended. Now, millennials may have just given older adults even more to roll their eyes at after a new study found a majority of the “snowflakes” think the term is harmful to their mental health.
Holidays And Aging Parents: Look For These 5 Red Flags | Forbes
Visits with your aging parents often are a wake-up call this time of year. Perhaps you haven’t seen your loved ones for some time and when you do, it’s startling. Aging can be a gradual process for some but for others, the changes accelerate so fast it shocks those who haven’t seen them in months.
Health-care spending growth slowed considerably in 2016 | CNBC
Growth in U.S. health spending slowed considerably in 2016, rising by 4.3 percent, after two years of higher spending growth spurred by Obamacare and prescription drugs. The slowdown in health spending growth was seen broadly across all major forms of private and public insurance, and in medical services, prescription drugs and other goods, according to an official analysis released Wednesday.
Help! A doctor is ruining my credit with Medicare overbilling | PBS News Hour
was overbilled by a doctor who accepts Medicare. He continues to insist I pay him the difference between what he billed me and what he has agreed to accept from Medicare, even though my Medicare reports [summary notices] clearly show I do not have to pay this extra amount. My problem is that he reported me to Equifax and it has been falsely issuing a negative credit report on me! I reported this to Medicare twice, and each time someone there said they would do something about it and didn’t. I disputed it through Equifax four times and each time this doctor gets my evidence, which is the Medicare summary statement showing I do not have to pay the amount he is currently reporting to Equifax.
I Use a Wheelchair. And Yes, I’m Your Doctor. | New York Times
When I was in the third year of my medical residency, I was asked to evaluate a new state-of-the-art, fully accessible exam table that would be used in doctors’ offices to better provide care for patients with mobility-related disabilities. The table could go as low as 18 inches off the ground to enable easier transfers for wheelchair users and had extra rails and grips to provide support for patients with impaired balance. I was to assess this equipment as a “user expert.” Although the table was designed to accommodate patients with disabilities, I rolled up to it to evaluate it from the perspective of a physician. “Do you want my opinion as a patient, or as a doctor?” I asked the surprised representatives from the medical equipment company.
The new tax bill will make Americans less healthy – and that’s bad for the economy | San Francisco Chronicle
The new tax bill, passed by the Senate early Saturday, is not just about taxes. It has significant consequences for the American health care system – especially for the most vulnerable of our citizens. If the proposed tax bill comes to fruition, it will reduce the affordability of health care for many Americans. Without access to care, our sickest and most vulnerable – especially the the poor and elderly – will suffer an increasing chance of poorer health outcomes.
Nearly 60 percent of top health insurers’ revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid | CNBC
Almost 60 percent of the combined revenue of the top five insurers in the United States comes from the government-sponsored health programs Medicare and Medicaid — and has more than doubled since the passage of Obamacare, a new report says.
The analysis, published in the journal Health Affairs, suggests that policymakers could improve the viability of Obamacare marketplaces, which sell individual health plans, by requiring insurers that benefit from other government coverage programs to sell Obamacare coverage.
School Voucher Programs Should Be Clear About Disability Rights, Report Says |NPR
School voucher programs need (at least) three key ingredients:
- Multiple schools (don’t roll your eyes, city dwellers, this one’s a brick wall for many rural parents).
- A system that makes private schools affordable for low-income parents. Choice isn’t choice if it’s only the rich who get to choose.
- And transparency, so that a child’s caregiver can review the options and make an informed choice.
This story is about that last ingredient. A new report from the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office says many of the nation’s voucher programs — and the private schools that participate in them — aren’t giving parents the information they need to make an informed choice, especially parents of kids with disabilities.
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