Articles related to MEDICARE

In a three-page letter, Kathryn A. Coleman, director of the agency’s Medicare Drug and Health Plan Contract Administration Group, stated that CMS is immediately stepping up its examination of marketing materials, which are required to be submitted in accordance with its legal “File and Use” authority for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans, and “may exercise its authority to prohibit” their use. As of right now, Medicare Advantage marketing materials are allowed to go live five days after being submitted, as long as the company submitting them “certifies the material complies with all applicable standards.” Starting January 1, 2023, however, no television advertisements will be eligible for submission under its “File and Use” authority, meaning that the advertisements will not air until CMS approves them.

All eligible Medicare beneficiaries who received treatment at Mayo facilities in Arizona and Florida over the previous three years were sent letters this past fall urging them to sign up for original Medicare and a supplement. When asked about the purpose of the letters, Kevin Punsky, the Mayo communications manager, said that they are meant to act as “a courtesy reminder” at the start of the annual Medicare re-enrollment window, which started on October 15.

A coming 8.5% cut in Medicare payments for surgery may be the proverbial straw in an already stressed system of surgical training, leading some to abandon their commitment to medicine.

Published in its entirety in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and available here from Guideline Central, the AGS Beers Criteria® also includes a host of resources— from mobile apps to a pocket reference card. The five lists included describe particular medications with evidence suggesting they should be avoided, used in caution, or dosed differently.

In this JAMA Original Investigation, the researchers studied 19,529 patients with Medicare coverage who initiated first systemic therapy for advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using 1 of 4 regimens of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and combined chemoimmunotherapy. The goal? To gauge the uptake and effectiveness of immunotherapy among older patients outside clinical trials.

The study looked at cancer survivors aged 65 or older from the SEER-Medicare database; survivors were diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2012. Claims from 2007 to 2013 were used to estimate costs by cancer site, phases of care, and stage at diagnosis.