On the Aging Beat
August 1, 2026
A weekly update of articles, opinion pieces, and other items. All links are free.
Trump Administration to End Medicare Drug Plan Subsidy
By Anna Wilde Mathews for The Wall Street Journal.
The Trump administration plans to end a $3.6 billion subsidy that helped Medicare drug plan hold down premiums, the newspaper reported. A Medicare official said, “around 25% of Medicare Part D plan enrollees would see premiums for their plans stay flat or go down next year,” Mathews reported. Roughly 30% will have an increase of less than $10 increases will range from $11 to $20 a month for the remaining 45%.
Medicare Advantage giant Humana eyes retreat amid struggles
By Nona Tepper for Modern Healthcare.
Humana’s chief financial officer said on Wednesday, July 29 that the is insurer would shrink its Medicare Advantage business next year. Tepper reported that Humana “will exit underperforming geographic markets next year and shed 600,000 beneficiaries as it confronts high costs and tightened profit margins.”
“Humana, second in Medicare Advantage market share to UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare, is copying a strategy many of its competitors have already executed over the past four years as the market became less lucrative,” she wrote.
The Father of the 401(k) Has a New Savings Plan
By Suzanne Woolley for Bloomberg News.
Ted Benna, widely hailed as the father of the 401(k), has a new project, called Radish, Woolley reports. “It’s an employer-funded incentive program that lets companies deposit money into an account for workers who hit performance goals, such as safety, tenure or on-time delivery.” Unlike current 401(k)s, she adds, “Radish accounts grow over time, giving them [employees] a reason to stay on the job, and giving companies a tool to drive employee performance.”
A 20-Minute Workout for Better Balance and Coordination
By Jen Murphy for The New York Times.
The exercises are explained in a helpful video. My only gripe is that the person doing them is a 20-something. I’d like to take a look at how a “fit” 70-year-old fares, and whether these exercises are still recommended.
Hospices worry patients will be unfairly punished amid fraud crisis
By Laurie Udesky for KFF Health News.
“The Trump administration’s allegations of unchecked hospice fraud in California have tainted the industry’s reputation, prompting concerns that fewer patients will seek the care they need,” Udesky reports. “Health policy researchers and hospice administrators worry that the negative attention on the industry and potential for overly punitive regulations could put California patients and taxpayers on the losing end.”
Be kind. Don’t look away. Live your best life.
I am a co-author, with Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Paul Solman, of Get What’s Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security: I am the author of Get What’s Yours for Medicare and Get What’s Yours for Health Care. Linked In.