Medicare

Sometimes a drug plan's copay is higher than the cash price, but insurance rules keep pharmacists from telling Medicare beneficiaries unless they ask.

Up to 16 million people in the U.S. have undiagnosed or uncorrected vision errors that could be helped by glasses, contact lenses or surgery. But many health plans don't include routine vision care.

NPR correspondent Alison Kodjak's mom was admitted to the hospital for four nights after a fall. Because the hospital said she was an outpatient, Medicare wouldn't pay for her rehabilitative care.

An agency that advises Congress recommends a 30 percent reduction in some federal reimbursements to free-standing ERs that are within 6 miles of a hospital.

The measure would allow Medicare to reimburse audiologists for a range of services, including helping patients learn how to use and adjust their hearing aids for different social situations correctly.

Last month's congressional budget deal included some benefits for Medicare recipients that may reduce their drug expenses and increase the coverage for certain therapies.

The tax reform law passed in December did repeal the Affordable Care Act's penalties for not having comprehensive health insurance. But the penalties are still in effect until 2019.

The Trump administration rolled out a list of actions in its budget proposal to attack drug prices, but most of the measures dance around the edges of the problem.

While the federal health law made insurers cover the full cost of screening colonoscopies, consumers with a history of polyps who need more frequent tests may have to pick up some costs.