WASHINGTON — It was 50 years ago that President Lyndon Johnson flew to Independence, Missouri and, with former President Harry Truman at his side, signed into law the legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid. It was a seminal moment in American political history. For three decades, liberals and conservatives had warred over government health insurance. “Medicare […]
Medicare
Posted inOp-Eds
Robert Samuelson: Debate needed over generational justice
WASHINGTON — If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has his way, the unfolding presidential campaign will focus on generational fairness. It will seek to curb spending on the elderly — mainly Social Security and Medicare — without putting the elderly at risk. This debate would be good for the country, but whether the country can […]
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Posted inLetters
R. Bussiere: Medicare recipients to feel the wrath
Starting this month, seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare are feeling the full wrath of Gov. Paul LePage. During the past two years, he has cut the income guidelines of the Medicare Savings Program by 10 percent, added asset criteria, and eliminated the Drug for the Elderly benefits for folks on the Medicare Savings […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Six Maine hospitals face penalties for rates of infections, complications
The federal government is cracking down on half a dozen Maine hospitals for high rates of complications and infections. The six Maine facilities are among 721 hospitals nationally with high rates of infections and other patient injuries that will see their payments cut under the federal Medicare program, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Federal court rejects Maine’s Medicaid cuts
AUGUSTA — About 6,000 19- and 20-year-old low-income Mainers will continue to receive health insurance coverage under MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, after a federal court ruling against ’s administration on Monday. Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said in a prepared statement that “judges have gone out of their way […]
Posted inRiver Valley, The Franklin Journal
Retirement home to begin repaying West Paris
WEST PARIS — Ledgeview Living Center has agreed to begin repaying nearly $25,000 in back taxes, interest and fees owed to the town. The 81-bed assisted living facility is expected to pay an undisclosed amount in monthly installments starting in September, according to a deal struck with Town Manager John White. The agreement appears to […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Mainers on Medicare saving millions on drugs
More than 5,300 elderly or disabled Mainers have saved more than $4 million in drug costs during the first half of this year as the federal government closes a Medicare coverage gap, dubbed the “donut hole,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said this week. Since it was implemented in 2006, Medicare’s drug plan has […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
More money, less money: the effects of not expanding MaineCare
The head of the Portland Community Health Center and her chief financial officer sat down last week to figure out which bills they could pay. They don’t have the money to pay all of them. More than half of their patients are uninsured, up from about 30 percent a few years ago. The health center […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine Medicare expenditures below national average
Maine hospitals are touting new data released by the federal government showing the state delivers health care to seniors more cost effectively than most of its counterparts. A Maine health care cost and quality organization, however, urged examining the numbers from a global perspective. On Monday, Medicare released a trove of data aimed at making […]
Posted inLetters
In rebuttal, G. D’Augustine: Headline misleading
The lead article in the Sun Journal April 10, “Some Maine doctors paid millions by Medicare in ’12,” represents an embarrassment to serious journalists. While technically true, the initial thrust of the article suggests a completely false premise: that some Maine doctors are taking home millions of dollars in Medicare payments. It’s not until the […]