This is my first Mother’s Day after my mother’s death in December. Before she died, she suffered for years from Alzheimer’s, a disease that came on slowly then quickly, transforming my warm, quick-witted mother from the beating heart of any gathering to a withdrawn and occasionally angry presence. She eventually came to require a level […]

Since its launch in 1998, the Medicare Advantage (MA) program has grown rapidly, now enrolling more beneficiaries than traditional Medicare. Unlike traditional Medicare—which generally reimburses providers on a fee-for-service basis (meaning, for the services they perform)—Medicare Advantage operates through a managed care model, with private insurers receiving capitated payments based on the demographics and health […]