President Trump is proposing to balance the federal budget within 15 years, “shrink” the federal government and extend food stamp work requirements to Medicaid and housing programs in a $4.8 trillion spending plan being released Monday. The plan would reduce spending by $4.4 trillion equally from discretionary and mandatory programs such as Medicare over the […]
IRS Gives Americans 3-Month Break to File Taxes…
ATTENTION SENIORS: Trump Admin Lifts Limits on Telehealth Services for Medicare Recipients…Call 1-800-Medicare…
‘Shrink’ Government: Trump’s Budget Reduces Spending by $4.4 Trillion, Makes 2017 Tax Cuts Permanent…
Pelosi Says Key Component of Drug Pricing Bill Not Open to Negotiations…
House Democrats on Thursday released the outline of a long-awaited drug price proposal, taking a step toward fulfilling one of the party’s signature campaign promises: requiring Medicare to negotiate drug prices. The bill would allow commercial insurers to benefit from the Medicare-negotiated price as well, and base Medicare’s highest-acceptable price on the lower prices other […]
Last Year the U.S. Government Gave $1 Billion in Benefits to Dead People…
Since 2004, twenty large federal agencies admit paying out an astonishing $1.2 trillion in improper payments. That amounts to more than one-quarter of President Trump’s proposed $4.7 trillion budget for 2020. Last year, these improper payments totaled $140 billion – that’s about $12 billion per month. But what exactly is an improper payment? Federal law […]
Drugmakers Jazz, Alexion, Lundbeck to Pay $123M to Resolve U.S. Charity Kickback Probe…
Three drugmakers will pay $122.6 million to resolve claims they used charities that help cover Medicare patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs as a way to pay kickbacks aimed at encouraging use of their medications, including some expensive ones. The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday said Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc, Lundbeck and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc were the latest […]
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Cuts to Discount Drug Program…
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s cuts to a Medicare drug discount program. Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that the administration illegally reduced Medicare payments to hospitals through the 340B Drug Pricing Program by 30 percent — or about $1.6 billion a year — through a rule took effect in January…
CVS Completing $69 Billion Aetna Merger After Winning State Approvals…
CVS Health’s $69 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna is expected to close on Wednesday after the firms received final regulatory approvals from state insurance agencies, the pharmacy chain said in a government filing on Monday. The deal — which won approval from the Department of Justice in October — is one of several expected […]
New Study Pegs Cost of Sanders’ ‘Medicare for All’ at $32 Tillion…
A bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to expand Medicare to all Americans would cost the federal government $32.6 trillion over the next decade, a new study finds. The study released Monday from the Mercatus Center think tank at George Mason University, comes as progressive Democrats are making “Medicare for All” a top issue in […]