Mercy Hospital Gift Of Life Event Celebrates Organ Donors And FamiliesWe strongly recommend that you call your dad's health plan and ask for a detailed statement including dates of stays and services billed. Keep careful notes of your call. If you are still unsatisfied, you can get free one-on-one counseling through your state health insurance assistance programs that may be able to help you determine what costs should have been covered and whether you should appeal the charges. Find a program in your area here..Figure in inflation: When calculating a long-term budget, consider that Medicare Part B premiums grew by almost 9% per year over the past 15 years. Medicare Advantage premiums have grown somewhat more slowly, but on-going program changes make it important to compare your health plan with other options during the Medicare's Open Enrollment period..However, pharmaceutical companies have sent in multitudes of lobbyists to stop the House Democrats bill, arguing that it would deter the creation of new drugs and lead to suffering and death. … Continued
Health Care Leaders Rally With Governor For Provider TaxLooming over all of this is the traditional August recess of Congress. That tradition started back before the discovery of electricity and therefore air conditioning. August is normally the hottest month of the year in Washington so they would all leave town to go somewhere to stay cool..Just hours after the trustees released their annual reports on Wednesday, members of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee met with Chief Actuary Stephen Goss to discuss the findings. Many of those present at the hearing expressed their commitment to addressing the program's funding shortfall. Chairman Sam Johnson said, "The longer we wait, the tougher it will get to fix Social Security. So the sooner we act the better." Chief Actuary Goss agreed, saying: "The trustees have consistently advised that enacting changes soon, even if with delayed effective dates, will allow more options to be considered, more advance warning for those affected, and a more gradual phase-in of adjustments.".It's important for the public to understand how the bill would increase costs and affect access to health care. The May 4th House vote took place less than 24 hours after the revised bill was posted, and without the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the new bill. "Meaning that House GOP Members voted without having adequate time to review the bill, knowing the full cost of the legislation or how the new changes in the bill would impact coverage for their own constituents," Johnson points out. "The public has a right to know that information prior to our elected lawmakers enacting legislation." … Continued