Justice Department charges nearly 200 people in $2.7 billion health care fraud schemes crackdown

Justice Department charges nearly 200 people in .7 billion health care fraud schemes crackdown

WASHINGTON — Nearly 200 people have been charged in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on health care fraud schemes with false claims topping $2.7 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges against doctors, nurse practitioners and others across the U.S. accused of a variety of scams, including a $900 … Read more

Social Security woes tied to illegal immigration, Trump claims

Social Security woes tied to illegal immigration, Trump claims

(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden said making Social Security solvent is an easy fix. “Make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share,” he said during Thursday’s CNN debate. Former President Donald Trump countered by saying “This man is going to single-handedly destroy Social Security,” but offered no concrete proposal, instead steering the debate back … Read more

Biden, Trump spar over Social Security, Medicare in presidential debate

Biden, Trump spar over Social Security, Medicare in presidential debate

Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic Party presidential candidate U.S. President Joe Biden speak during a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024 in a combination photo. Brian Snyder | Reuters The future of Social Security and Medicare may be greatly impacted by whoever occupies the White House following … Read more

Here’s how much benefits will be cut if Congress doesn’t act

Here’s how much benefits will be cut if Congress doesn’t act

(NewsNation) — Social Security recipients could see their benefits cut by hundreds of dollars a month in roughly a decade if Congress doesn’t make changes. The head actuaries for Social Security and Medicare testified before the GOP-led House Budget Committee on Thursday and laid out the looming insolvency situation. The combined trust funds that Social … Read more

US health care costs expected to hit $8 trillion in 10 years: Report

US health care costs expected to hit  trillion in 10 years: Report

(NewsNation) — Annual health care spending in the U.S. is projected to reach $7.7 trillion by 2032, according to new federal actuaries projections, marking a $2.9 trillion increase from last year. Spending is expected to grow 5.6% annually during the 2023-2032 projection period, surpassing the anticipated 4.3% annual inflation rate. By 2032, healthcare will account for … Read more

Being a patient is getting harder in a strained and complex US health care system

Being a patient is getting harder in a strained and complex US health care system

Tamika Davis couldn’t nap on her couch during cancer treatment. She kept worrying one of her toddlers would wander over and pull out the needle delivering chemotherapy. Friends and family watched her kids when they could during her treatment last year for colon cancer. But Davis had gaps with no help because she couldn’t afford … Read more

Can Medicare money protect doctors from abortion crimes? It worked before, desegregating hospitals

Can Medicare money protect doctors from abortion crimes? It worked before, desegregating hospitals

ATLANTA — The Supreme Court’s pending Idaho abortion ruling may hinge on how federal spending power might protect doctors against a state’s criminal code. For guidance, the justices can look to the very beginning of Medicare in the 1960s, when the promise of federal funding finally persuaded hospitals in the Jim Crow South to desegregate. … Read more

Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates are pushed back in a ‘measure of good news’

Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates are pushed back in a ‘measure of good news’

WASHINGTON — The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security have been pushed back as an improving economy has contributed to changed projected depletion dates, according to the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report Monday. Still, officials warn that policy changes are needed lest the programs become unable to pay full benefits to retiring … Read more

Social Security expected to run short on funds in 2035, government says

Social Security expected to run short on funds in 2035, government says

People leave a Social Security Administration building in Burbank, California.  Valerie Macon | Afp | Getty Images The trust funds the Social Security Administration relies on to pay benefits are now projected to run out in 2035, one year later than previously projected, according to the annual trustees’ report released on Monday. At the projected … Read more

Safety lapses contributed to patient assaults at Oregon State Hospital, federal report says

Safety lapses contributed to patient assaults at Oregon State Hospital, federal report says

Safety lapses at the Oregon State Hospital contributed to recent patient-on-patient assaults, a federal report on the state’s most secure inpatient psychiatric facility has found. The investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that staff didn’t always adequately supervise their patients and that the hospital didn’t fully investigate acts of aggression, Oregon … Read more