Tag: Affordable Care Act

Healthcare Reform
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Medicare: 50 Years and Counting

Medicare is turning 50 this week. In July 1965, President Johnson led Congress to create a federal health insurance program under the Social Security Act. Medicare covers people over 65 years old and younger people with certain disabilities or diseases. According to recent Yale University study, Americans on Medicare are spending less time in the hospital, living longer, and spending less on hospital visits as compared to 15 years ago. The Yale study focused on Medicare beneficiaries over 65 years of age between the years of 1999 and 2013 and the trends in mortality, hospitalizations, and expenditures in that time.  […]

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Affordable Care Act, Drug Discount Card, HEALfundr, Health, Healthcare Reform, NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance, Prescription Drugs, Specialty Drugs
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Medication Costs on the Rise

Last month, we posted a blog about how many Americans are spending more than $50,000 or even $100,000 a year on medications—more  people than ever before. The information included insured Americans and found that insurance covered an average of 97% of prescription costs for those spending at least $50,000. At NeedyMeds, there are many assistance programs for those who are in need.  However, even with new laws and regulations there are those stuck in between.   There are patients in America that make too much money to qualify for assistance but still not enough to pay all their medical bills.  […]

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Affordable Care Act, Health, Healthcare Reform, Medicaid
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Affordable Care Act Helps Americans Ages 50-64

In the past five years since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there have been strong supporters and fierce opponents.  No matter what side of the ACA one falls, it’s hard to deny the positive results it has had in some people’s lives. Since 2013, uninsured rate dropped by 31% among Americans ages 50-64.   Elderly Americans are among the most underserved populations in the country, and are at risk of struggling with poverty and disparity in health care.  The ACA expanded access to health insurance coverage to 50- to 64-year-olds through several provisions, including expanding eligibility for […]

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Health, Healthcare Reform, NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance, Prescription Drugs
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A Prescription for Change – Making Affordable Medicine a Priority

In a previous guest post, Alison Lawton of the Access Our Medicine Initiative wrote on the importance of affordable medications and AOM’s goal to reach 100,000 signatures for their Access Our Medicine Declaration. Having achieved their goal, they are now planning a worldwide Thunderclap of awareness.   When we launched the Access Our Medicine Initiative on World Health Day last year I didn’t know if anyone would respond.   We knew that the price of medicine was rising for life-changing medicines with devastating consequences for everyone, around the globe. We learned of people choosing between food and medicine, being pushed […]

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Health, Healthcare Reform, NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance, Prescription Drugs
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A Declaration for Affordable Medicine

Medicines can only work in patients who can take them. If we have medicines today to treat people and they can’t access them, then we have to make changes. That’s why we launched the Access Our Medicine Initiative. The Access Our Medicine Initiative launched in April 2014 inviting people to sign an online declaration with a simple statement – that everyone should have access to affordable medicine. Since then, over 75,000 people from 160 countries and a diverse range of organizations representing more than 400 million people have signed the Declaration at www.accessourmedicine.com. Why are so many people interested? Even […]

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About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.