It’s an unfortunate truth, but health care fraud drives up costs for everyone in the health care system. Fraud schemes often depend on identity thieves getting hold of people’s Medicare numbers. So guard your Medicare number. Treat it as you would a credit card. What can you do to protect yourself...

When you shop for a new car, you don’t just buy the first one you see, right? Of course not. You shop around, looking for the best deal you can get on a vehicle that fits your driving needs as well as your pocketbook. Well, it’s the time of year when you should think about shopping for a Medicare...

The best way to stay healthy is to live a healthy lifestyle. You can live a healthy lifestyle and prevent disease by exercising, eating well, keeping a healthy weight, and not smoking. Medicare can help. Medicare pays for many preventive services to keep you healthy. Preventive services can find health...

From 2013 to 2014, the number of Californians ages 19 to 64 without health insurance declined by 15.5 percent — more than 655,000 people — after full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to new California Health Interview Survey data released Tuesday by the UCLA Center for Health...

Diabetes is a serious disease. It can lead to kidney problems, glaucoma and other eye disorders, foot ulcers, amputation of feet or legs, stroke, diabetic coma, and even death. If your doctor thinks you’re at risk for diabetes, Medicare covers screening tests for it. And, if you develop the disease,...

Sylvia Mathews Burwell Before Medicare and Medicaid were created 50 years ago, our nation was a very different place for many. Seniors had to rely on strained savings or their families’ goodwill to get by. Those who had neither were left to a life of poverty and insecurity. Families, even children,...

It’s easy to forget that before 1966, roughly half of all American seniors were uninsured, living in fear that the high cost of health care could plunge not only them, but also their families, into poverty. Few of us remember that not long ago, far too many disabled people, families with children,...

People ask me all kinds of questions about Medicare. One of the most frequent concerns is whether they should sign up for Medicare Part B. Part B is medical insurance. It covers professional fees for doctors and other health care providers, outpatient treatment, durable medical equipment, home health...

Do you ever have questions about your Medicare? Have you ever wondered where you can get fast, reliable answers to those questions – free of charge? There’s a terrific program in your community that can help. It’s called the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP. If you’re eligible...

Most doctors, pharmacists and other health care providers who work with Medicare are honest. Unfortunately, some aren’t. One common form of Medicare fraud is when Medicare is billed for health care services or benefits you never received. Someone could have gotten access to your Medicare number and...