On Aging

Intergenerational indoor gatherings, a.k.a, Thanksgiving dinner, still pose a COVID risk to older adults and the immunocompromised. Here's how to keep everyone safe.

The federal government directed nursing homes to open their doors wide to visitors, easing many remaining pandemic restrictions.

An alternative to original Medicare, the private plans are run mostly by major insurers. A recent analysis estimates Medicare overpaid these insurers by $106 billion from 2010 through 2019.

A new Alzheimer's drug isn't reaching many patients. Doctors say reasons include its high cost, and lingering questions about its effectiveness.

The open enrollment period to buy health insurance on HealthCare.gov starts now and runs through Jan. 15, 2022. Look for more options and expanded subsidies this year — and more help signing up.

Vaccination rates in much of rural America remain low. But there's one consistent holdout demographic: seniors, many of whom remember lining up eagerly as children to get the polio vaccine.

Without dental insurance, William Stork has put off getting his rotten tooth pulled; Medicare doesn't cover the $1,000 procedure. Dentists can't agree on whether all seniors should get that benefit.

These services can make the difference between being able to live at home with family or landing in a nursing facility. But state Medicaid programs don't always pay for them.

An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth's future.

Public health workers are going church to church and house to house in the state's secluded valleys to dispel COVID myths, ease isolation, bring aid, and convince wary residents to get vaccinated.