On the Aging Beat
June 6, 2026
A weekly update of articles, opinion pieces, and other items. All links are free.
Early Research Suggests a Path to Predict and Prevent Lung Cancer
By Nina Agrawal for The New York Times
“A team of more than 80 researchers working across four continents have identified a set of [14] proteins in the blood that accurately predict lung cancers more than five years before diagnosis,” Agrawal reports. “The scientists also found early evidence that an existing anti-inflammatory drug could significantly reduce lung cancer risk in people with elevated concentrations of these proteins, which they linked to inflammation.”
Canakinumab, an anti-inflammatory drug, “nearly halved the risk of lung cancer among 2,300 patients in [a research] trial who had higher-than-average expression of the 14 proteins,” the story said, prompting one researcher to say the findings may open the door to development of a class of drugs that lowers the risk of lung cancer similar to the way statins control high cholesterol.
Remarkable.
Do Married Couples Coordinate Their Retirement Savings?
By Taha Choukhmane and Cormac O’Dea for the Center on Retirement Research at Boston College
The study’s top-line findings:
Employer 401(k) matches vary in generosity, so couples can get the most bang for their buck by prioritizing the more generous match.
But, about 1 in 5 couples leave employer matching money on the table by failing to coordinate their contributions – forgoing $760 per year, on average.
Half of forgone matches appear to be accidental; the other half reflect deliberate choices related to low marital commitment and/or misperceptions about how assets are treated in divorce.
No State Spared: Mapping the Impact of Social Security’s Insolvency
The fiscal watchdogs at the non-profit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have issued one of their regular doomsday analyses of the pain retirees will face in 2032 when Social Security runs short of money. The projected benefit cut is 24%.
The interactive report looks at state-by-state impacts. “Nationally, the average monthly cut would total $500, which is more than what the average retired household spends on groceries each month,” the report says.
The New Students at This Liberal Arts College Are in Their 80s
By Anne Tergesen and Douglas Belkin for The Wall Street Journal
Take a tour of Goucher, a suburban Baltimore college, to see if you’re ready to return to school. Partnerships between retirement communities and colleges are providing a rare bit of bright news for higher education.
“Enrollment is shrinking at colleges across the country, due to falling birth rates and a confluence of factors that have diminished the appetite for bachelor’s degrees, including anxiety over student debt, an uncertain entry-level job market and the acceleration of artificial intelligence,” the story said. “Smaller private colleges have been particularly hard-hit: Enrollment at Goucher has plummeted 32% over the past decade to 1,460.”
The New Amenity in Luxury Living: Longevity Services
By Peter Grant and Douglas Belkin for The Wall Street Journal
“The newest luxury condominium amenity for wealthy New Yorkers isn’t a rooftop pool, private dining room or celebrity-chef restaurant,” the story begins. “It is a whole-body MRI.”
One High Line “has leased its five-story commercial space to Atria Health and Research Institute, a high-end longevity company,” the article explains. “Atria offers advanced diagnostics—including MRIs, genetic screening and advanced heart imaging—to members paying roughly $20,000 to $75,000 a year.”
Besides New York, it adds, Atria has since opened or announced facilities in Palm Beach, Fla.; Beverly Hills, Calif.; Miami’s Design District; and Menlo Park, Calif. “‘You have enough restaurants and coffee shops in New York,’ said Alan Tisch, Atria’s chief executive and co-founder. ‘Having a leading health, wellness and longevity center really is a unique differentiator today.’”
CMS takes strict approach to Medicaid work requirements
By Bridget Early for Modern Healthcare
“The interim final rule for what the agency calls the Medicaid Community Engagement Requirement features a strict interpretation of what qualifies an applicant as “medically frail” and will require documentation to verify work or support health-related exemptions from work requirements starting in 2028,” Early reports.
“The work requirements policy applies in 40 states and the District of Columbia, which expanded eligibility under the Affordable Care Act of 2010,” her story explains. “Applicants and enrollees aged 19-65 who don’t have disabilities must prove they spend at least 80 hours a month working, schooling or volunteering.”
Here is the government’s fact sheet about the rules.
The Home-Insurance Coin Flip: Nearly Half of Claims Result in Zero Payout
By Jean Eaglesham and Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky for The Wall Street Journal
Maybe health insurers aren’t the worst kids on the block!
“The five biggest home-insurers as a group didn’t pay out on more than 44% of claims resolved last year, forcing homeowners and renters to fund repairs out of their own pockets, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal found.” The story added, “The risk that a claim will result in no payment among the group—State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, United Services Automobile Association and Farmers Insurance—shot up from 36% a decade earlier, according to the analysis.”
Stay safe, be kind, and don’t look away.
I am the principal author of Simon & Schuster’s Get What’s Yours series of books about Medicare, Social Security, and health care. Linked In.
Throughout Maryland's <em>public </em> colleges, seniors can take up to three courses Fall semester and again Spring semester for a comparative pittance. Basically, if people over 60,I believe it is, can demonstrate that we have our own health coverage so we can opt out of student health services, all we pay is the student activities fee, $300-some, plus any lab fee tied to a specific course such as biology or piano, and if we need a parking pass, that not-small fee. This includes both undergrad or grad courses, in-person, hybrid, and remote, degree or non-degree. . We can opt to audit, to pass-fail, or to receive letter grading. The two tricky bits are that many courses have qualifications such as (but not limited to) prerequisites, and that we only get to register on Day 3, for slots left open by regularly enrolled students. A wonderfrul bonus, and the initial reason I signed up for what Maryland calls the Golden ID program, is full use of the university library system, including reference librarians with specialized topic expertise--plus super ILL. So I say hurrah for Goucher, and lots more is available.