Medicare

A senior senator is examining whether Medicare's prescription drug benefit is vulnerable to manipulation by pharmaceutical companies that set very high prices for medications.

Q. I don’t know much about Medicare, and I’m 62 and I’m trying to budget for retirement in three or four years. What kind of extra insurance do I need above standard Medicare and what will it cost?

About 1.6 million people who signed up for coverage this year under President Barack Obama's health care law dropped out by the end of March, according to administration figures released late Thursday.

Some seniors can get by with a home health aide, but others need full-time and long term care and most Jersey residents have no idea how costly either option can be.

From Akron to Tampa Bay, from New York City to San Francisco, Medicare on Friday launches an ambitious experiment changing how it pays for hip and knee replacements in an effort to raise quality and lower costs.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls his plan for a government-run health care system "Medicare for all." But it's not.

Medicare is expanding a major experiment that strives to keep seniors healthier by coordinating basic medical care to prevent common problems that often lead to hospitalization, the agency said on Monday.

Whether it's coverage for end-of-life counseling or an experimental payment scheme for common surgeries, Medicare in 2016 is undergoing some of the biggest changes in its 50 years.

Medicare spending on breakthrough medications for hepatitis C will nearly double this year, passing $9 billion, according to new government figures. That's raising insurance costs for all beneficiaries, whether or not they have the liver-wasting viral disease.

Medicare said Friday it will pay doctors to help patients plan what kind of care they want at the end of life -- an idea more broadly accepted than six years ago, when it touched off a political uproar about "death panels."