Blog

• KFF Health News: Deep Flaws in FDA Oversight of Medical Devices, and Patient Harm, Exposed in Lawsuits and Records

  December 21, 2023: Living with diabetes, Carlton “PeeWee” Gautney Jr. relied on a digital device about the size of a deck of playing cards to pump insulin into his bloodstream. The pump, manufactured by device maker Medtronic, connected plastic tubing to an insu...Read more >

• KFF Health News: Extra Fees Drive Assisted Living Profits

  November 21, 2023: Assisted living centers have become an appealing retirement option for hundreds of thousands of boomers who can no longer live independently, promising a cheerful alternative to the institutional feel of a nursing home. But their cost is so crushi...Read more >

• KFF Health News: Save Billions or Stick With Humira? Drug Brokers Steer Americans to the Costly Choice

  September 21, 2023: Tennessee last year spent $48 million on a single drug, Humira — about $62,000 for each of the 775 patients who were covered by its employee health insurance program and receiving the treatment. So when nine Humira knockoffs, known as biosimilars, ...Read more >

• Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage for Denying Care and Overcharging

  June 30, 2022: Congress should crack down on Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors that sometimes deny patients vital medical care while overcharging the government billions of dollars every year, government watchdogs told a House panel Tuesday. Witnesses ...Read more >

• Kaiser Health News: It’s Your Choice: You Can Change Your Views of Aging and Improve Your Life

  April 13, 2022: People’s beliefs about aging have a profound impact on their health, influencing everything from their memory and sensory perceptions to how well they walk, how fully they recover from disabling illness, and how long they live. When aging is...Read more >

• KHN: As Covid Slogs On, Seniors Find Fortitude Waning and Malaise Growing

  February 24, 2022: Late one night in January, Jonathan Coffino, 78, turned to his wife as they sat in bed. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” he said, glumly. Coffino was referring to the caution that’s come to define his life during t...Read more >

• Massachusetts Alliance for Retired Americans Third Constitutional Convention

  January 20, 2022: Delegates will hold elections for the five officers of the Massachusetts Alliance: President, Executive Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary and Treasurer; as well as consider any bylaw changes or resolutions that may be propo...Read more >

• Apple, Bose and Others Pump Up the Volume on Hearing Aid Options, Filling Void Left by FDA

  August 31, 2021: Spurred by decades of complaints about the high cost of hearing aids, Congress passed a law in 2017 to allow over-the-counter sales, with hopes it would boost competition and lower prices. Four years later, federal regulators have yet to issue...Read more >

• Calming Computer Jitters: Help for Seniors Who Aren’t Tech-Savvy

  July 01, 2021: Six months ago, Cindy Sanders, 68, bought a computer so she could learn how to email and have Zoom chats with her great-grandchildren. It’s still sitting in a box, unopened. “I didn’t know how to set it up or how to get help,” said ...Read more >

• Members of Congress Suggest Expanding Medicare Telehealth Options

  May 24, 2021: Early on in the pandemic, the federal government expanded telehealth services covered under traditional Medicare on a temporary, emergency basis. Before, only patients who lived in rural areas could access telehealth options from certain providers an...Read more >