Aging

Some hospitals and physician groups are rejecting Medicare Advantage plans over payment rates and coverage restrictions, causing turmoil for patients.

Medicare is expanding access to mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists come Jan. 1. But the belief that seniors who suffer from mental health problems should just grin and bear it remains a troubling barrier to care.

The Florida Health Care Association wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services warning that most facilities could not meet the “arbitrary and unfunded mandates."

Quest Diagnostics is selling a blood test online to consumers. But results may not be reliable or easy to interpret. And it isn’t covered by insurance.

Researchers suggest that as people retire, drive less and face new medical issues, the presence of green spaces could help boost physical activity and reduce chronic stress.

On WGCU's "Gulf Coast Life," we talk to Jennifer O’Brien, a USF associate professor of psychology and one of the lead investigators in the Active Mind study.

Software sifts through millions of medical records to match patients with similar diagnoses and characteristics and predicts what kind of care an individual will need. New rules will ensure humans are part of the process.

In the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group, the SSA acting commissioner said a special team will review “overpayment policies and procedures” and report directly back to her.

Lawmakers are faulting the SAA for issuing billions in payments that beneficiaries weren’t entitled to receive — and then demanding the money back — as reported by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group.

The annual cost of lecanemab treatment quadruples if the expense of brain scans to monitor for bleeds and other associated care is factored in. The full financial toll likely puts it beyond reach for low-income seniors.

In addition to designing, testing and implementing the hearing intervention used in the multisite ACHIEVE study, USF researchers also trained the audiologists who used it and monitored the results.

Researchers have found that while obesity at any age risks harming health, a few extra pounds in later life isn’t cause for concern.