Tuesday, February 4

Tag: Health Care

UnitedHealth uses faulty AI to deny elderly patients medically necessary coverage, lawsuit claims
20Nov By adminNo Comments
Money

UnitedHealth uses faulty AI to deny elderly patients medically necessary coverage, lawsuit claims

The families of two now-deceased former beneficiaries of UnitedHealth have filed a lawsuit against the health care giant, alleging it knowingly used a faulty artificial intelligence algorithm to deny elderly patients coverage for extended care deemed necessary by their doctors. The lawsuit, filed last Tuesday in federal court in Minnesota, claims UnitedHealth illegally denied "elderly patients care owed to them under Medicare Advantage Plans" by deploying an AI model known by the company to have a 90% error rate, overriding determinations made by the patients' physicians that the expenses were medically necessary.Medicare Advantage plans, which are administered by private health insurers such as UnitedHealth, are Medicare-approved insurance plans available to elderly people as an alternat...
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Former NBA stars convicted of defrauding the league’s health insurance of millions
16Nov By adminNo Comments
Money

Former NBA stars convicted of defrauding the league’s health insurance of millions

Former Celtic Glen 'Big Baby' Davis convicted in NBA insurance fraud scheme Former Celtic Glen 'Big Baby' Davis convicted in NBA insurance fraud scheme 00:16 A grand jury in New York has convicted former NBA players of bilking the basketball league's health care plan of millions of dollars while trying to recruit other players to join the scheme. Among those found guilty were Ronald Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who played eight seasons in the NBA and won a championship in 2008 with the Bosto...
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“Today I am going blind”: Many Americans say health insurance doesn’t keep them healthy
11Nov By adminNo Comments
Money

“Today I am going blind”: Many Americans say health insurance doesn’t keep them healthy

Edna Garcia thinks she has paid her dues. For 34 years, she worked as a public high school teacher in Bridgeport, Connecticut, while also serving as a local lawmaker for eight years. In her retirement, she volunteers at her church, where she helps members deal with health insurance problems.  "I have been beneficial to my community," she told CBS MoneyWatch. But for Garcia, 73, enjoying her retirement has been difficult. Despite having health insurance for retired teachers through UnitedHealthcare, she has struggled to afford medical treatment. Garcia is diabetic, has Crohn's disease, for which there is no cure, and suffers from a vision condition that has caused her eyesight to deteriorate over time.  Garcia, who also has Medicare Part A and B so she c...
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Medical debt can damage your credit score. Here’s what to know.
10Nov By adminNo Comments
Money

Medical debt can damage your credit score. Here’s what to know.

Unlike other bills, the debts a growing number of Americans are piling up to obtain health care services are often unplanned, or the result of billing issues and other errors that reflect the challenge of navigating our dauntingly complex health care system.Although such problems often aren't the fault of patients, medical debt can scar their credit score, drive up health insurance premiums, and even impede their ability to secure a job or housing simply because of an unexpected trip to the emergency room, for example. Some 40% of U.S. adults owe money related to getting medical or dental care, according to a 2022 survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation, including credit card debt or other loans they took on to pay off a health care provider,. "So many...
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This doctor wrote the book on medical debt
9Nov By adminNo Comments
Money

This doctor wrote the book on medical debt

In 2019, emergency medicine physician and historian Luke Messac was working as a medical resident. He had heard about hospitals suing their own patients over unpaid medical bills, so he decided to investigate whether the hospitals where he worked were doing the same.It turns out they were."The care I was delivering to patients was resulting in them showing up in court, or having their wages garnished, or signing up for a payment plan that they would be paying for the better part of a decade," said Messac.In this episode of "An Arm and a Leg," host Dan Weissmann speaks with Messac about his book, "Your Money or Your Life: Debt Collection in American Medicine," and how people working in health care can try to reform these practices.Host and producer of "An Arm and a Leg." Previously, Dan wa...
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Why it’s so tough to reduce unnecessary medical care
9Nov By adminNo Comments
Money

Why it’s so tough to reduce unnecessary medical care

The U.S. spends huge amounts of money on health care that does little or nothing to help patients, and may even harm them. In Colorado, a new analysis shows that the number of tests and treatments conducted for which the risks and costs exceed the benefits has barely budged despite a decade-long attempt to tamp down on such care.The state — including the government, insurers, and patients themselves — spent $134 million last year on what is called low-value care, according to the report by the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, a Denver nonprofit that collects billing data from health plans across Colorado. The top low-value items in terms of spending in each of the past three years were prescriptions for opiates, prescriptions for multiple antipsychotics, and screenings for vitam...
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Medical imaging struggles to read dark skin. Researchers say they’ve found a way to make it easier
21Oct By adminNo Comments
Technology

Medical imaging struggles to read dark skin. Researchers say they’ve found a way to make it easier

CNN  —  Traditional medical imaging – used to diagnose, monitor or treat certain medical conditions – has long struggled to get clear pictures of patients with dark skin, according to experts. Researchers say they have found a way to improve medical imaging, a process through which physicians can observe the inside of the body, regardless of skin tone. The new findings were published in the October edition of the journal Photoacoustics. The team tested the forearms of 18 volunteers, with skin tones ranging from light to dark. They found that a distortion of the photoacoustic signal that makes the imaging more difficult to read, called clutter, increased with darkness of skin. “When you h...
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CVS is pulling some of the most popular cold medicines from store shelves. Here’s why.
19Oct By adminNo Comments
Money

CVS is pulling some of the most popular cold medicines from store shelves. Here’s why.

FDA panel: Common decongestant doesn't work FDA panel says decongestant in many cold medicines doesn't work 03:46 Pharmacy chain CVS Health said it is pulling some of its most popular cold and cough medications from store shelves, weeks after advisors to the Food and Drug Administration deemed a common ingredient ineffective.CVS told CBS MoneyWatch that it will no longer sell products that only contain phenylephrine as an active ingredient a...
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Workers are paying 7% more this year for employer-sponsored health insurance
19Oct By adminNo Comments
Health

Workers are paying 7% more this year for employer-sponsored health insurance

Health care costs rise as some struggle for coverage Health care costs rise as some struggle for coverage 02:34 Climbing food and housing prices aren't the only costs causing consumers to dig deeper into their pockets  these days. Insurance premiums are forcing them to shell out more money, too. According to a new survey from health policy research firm KFF, workers this year are contributing, on average, $6,575 toward the cost of insurance premiums for their employer...
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