The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that for the first time would require the federal government to negotiate prices for drugs, reports Politico . Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has refused to take up the legislation, while President Trump has pledged to veto it should it reach his desk. Democratic leaders nonetheless see the bill as a step toward reining in soaring drug prices. The measure would require the government to negotiate the price of at least 25 Medicare Part D drugs each year, and mandate federal officials to work out the cost of at least 50 drugs annually. Separately, drugmakers' ability to annually raise prices in Medicare would be constrained, forcing them to rebate the portion of the hike that exceeds the rate of inflation. The bill also would impose a cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare enrollees, with the projected savings to be channeled toward expanded Medicare benefits for seniors' dental, vision, and hearing coverage. However, Republicans object to the bill's forecast stifling of new drug launches, which Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) said poses a "dangerous trade-off" between lower drug prices and new medications reaching market.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has rolled out an executive order to make the state more age-friendly for the burgeoning senior population, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune . The effort will involve nine state agencies, tribal leaders, local governments, nonprofits, businesses, and private citizens. Minnesota has among the lengthiest life expectancies in the United States, and citizens 65 and older are expected to outnumber school-aged children in the coming year. "This work . . . must be a collective effort that requires coordination, collaboration, innovation, and focus across state agencies," Walz stated in his order. The Governor's Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota will likely be established in the first few months of 2020, with the goal of designing a comprehensive plan for the state, and suggesting policies for lawmakers to discuss in the 2021 session. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging has been lobbying to set up a framework that will grant cities and counties the flexibility to respond to specific community needs. Over five years, the framework would assist municipalities, tribal governments, and other stakeholders in tackling challenges like ageism in healthcare and the workplace, disparities between urban and rural regions, and policies that deny flexible housing options for older adults.

A report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) suggests private insurers in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program may have improperly collected $6.7 billion in federal payments in 2017 by distorting enrollees' health conditions, reports Politico Pro . Medicare's risk adjustment scheme requires the government to pay higher rates to MA plans with sicker beneficiaries. The OIG determined insurers added diagnoses to enrollees' charts that doctors' records did not validate in over 99 percent of cases, and deleted diagnoses in less than 1 percent. The OIG added that if beneficiaries are as ill as the insurers' claim, then clinicians' own records are not indicating that they are receiving the necessary care. "This report is about process, not payments," argued Kristine Grow of America's Health Insurance Plans, noting the data from providers on enrollees' visits has been problematic, and insurers have been urging improvements to the system. Meanwhile, experts said insurers' enthusiasm for enlarging payments is built into MA's design. "The system incentivizes MA plans to work very hard to detect conditions that yield risk adjustment bumps, and so the MA plans work very hard to detect" such conditions, noted former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services official Michael Adelberg.

The University at Buffalo (UB) wants older adults to question their doctors as to whether discontinuing certain medications is the right course of action, reports WBFO . "We want to encourage older adults and their family members to speak up to advocate for stopping medications," said Ranjit Singh at the UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "So when you go to the doctor, don't go in asking for new medications. Start out by asking, 'Are there any medications I don't need anymore?'" Key to this is the Elder Voices Network, an initiative to offer awareness presentations. "The effort is to not only work with healthcare providers, but also to empower older adults to really take control of their health and to really feel comfortable questioning physicians about medications," said presentation leader Mary Brennan-Taylor. Presenters recommend checking out the American Geriatrics Society's Beers Criteria, a list of medications deemed unsafe for older adults.

St. Croix Hospice in Minnesota has launched the North Star Dementia Program, which dispatches certified teams to assist people with dementia, families, and caregivers with proactive symptom management to enhance comfort and quality of life, reports PR Newswire . All participating experts are certified as Dementia Care Specialists by the Crisis Prevention Institute. St. Croix Hospice Chief Clinical Officer Mandy Cogswell said the hospice has a dual mission "to ensure beneficiaries and their families have a safe living environment and access to dementia support resources. We also want to help them achieve the best possible quality of life, physically and emotionally." When someone with dementia enters hospice care, the St. Croix Hospice team works with them, their loved ones, and caregivers to boost safety, reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, and lower behavior escalation. "Our dementia care experts respect beneficiaries' personal choices while providing comfort, care, and dignity throughout their hospice journey," Cogswell said.

Research from Penn State University suggests older people are an important yet underutilized resource of entrepreneurism, reports Forbes . The researchers argue that this group's diverse passions can fuel new ideas and innovations, which often concentrate on communal benefits instead of personal or commercial profit. "A good example was the knitting group that met in the library and made a lot of scarves," the investigators note. "After they were done, they would put the scarves on the statues in front of the library for people to take in the winter. If people are cold, they can pick up a scarf, which . . . was pretty interesting and creative." The Senior Planet community hopes to harness this inventiveness and expertise, offering classes on using social media and other tools to be entrepreneurial. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Northwestern University study found the average age of company founders in the United States is 41.9 years, and the most successful startups are being founded by people with 45 years of experience. Moreover, a 50-year-old entrepreneur was 1.8 times more likely to achieve high growth than a 30-something founder.

A study in Neurology associated an inflammatory marker with brain atrophy, cognitive decline, and dementia, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers examined more than 4,700 participants from two large community-based heart studies, and found higher levels of sCD14 were connected to markers of brain aging and injury, like total brain atrophy and a decline in executive functioning. "Cost-effective, blood based biomarkers are greatly needed to detect and track the progression of preclinical brain injury predisposing to dementia," noted the researchers. "Such biomarkers could also act as endpoints in clinical trials of disease-modifying interventions and expand our understanding of disease biology." There are currently no drug trials to see if reducing sCD14 levels would improve cognition in humans, but treatment with several targeted anti-inflammatory medications — such as statins — can lower sCD14. "There is a growing recognition of the role of inflammation in neurodegeneration and vascular injury-related cognitive decline and dementia," said University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Professor Sudha Seshadri.

A Chinese study published in Neurology found people who sleep for a longer amount of time elevate their stroke risk by 85 percent, while those who take regular 90-minute naps raise that risk by 25 percent, reports Newsweek . "People, especially middle-aged and older adults, should pay more attention to their time spent in bed attempting to sleep and midday napping, and sleep quality, because appropriate duration of sleep and nap, and maintaining good sleep quality may complement other behavioral interventions for preventing stroke," noted Huazhong University of Science and Technology Professor Xiaomin Zhang. The researchers analyzed data from 31,750 people living in China with a median age of 62. After six years of self-reported follow-ups and physical examinations, 1,500 participants had had strokes. Among the 10,000 participants who slept for longer periods of time, 46 percent had a higher than average risk to eventually experience a stoke. Zhang acknowledged that the study does not prove that napping and long periods of sleep cause strokes, but merely demonstrates an association between long sleep periods and strokes.

Consumer Reports (CR) offers guidance on fitness trackers for older adults. Tested products include step-counting wearables, along with smartwatches and trackers that monitor pace and heart rate and alert users to texts and e-mails. Columnist Charles Davidman suggests interested consumers consider the product's comfort and ease of use. Although most products received a "Very Good" or "Excellent" rating in this regard, CR advises consumers to go to a store with demo models and check out their features in person before buying. Accuracy was found to vary widely in step-counting tests, with only four watches and one tracker — the Garmin Forerunner 35 — earning an "Excellent" rating for step count. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Series 3 Aluminum case global-positioning system earned a "Very Good" rating for heart rate monitoring. In terms of sleep-tracking ability, CR cites a 2019 study in Sensors , which found several devices performed well at monitoring time in bed — but not as well with total time asleep.

Federal officials have charged 35 people with Medicare fraud, reports KVEO News Center 23 . These false recruiters are scamming seniors across the United States to submit DNA samples for a "free" genetic cancer risk test, then charging their Medicare accounts for thousands of dollars. Frequent targets include senior centers, senior housing, health fairs, and even parking lots, where fraudsters try to persuade people to get a mouth swab for the free screening and then get their Medicare data. Texas Senior Medicare Patrol Director Jennifer Salazar says the scam also is perpetrated over the phone. "You'll get a call out of the blue and it'll be someone saying they're from Medicare and they need to update your information and they ask for your Medicare number," she says, adding that Medicare will never contact beneficiaries by phone. Under federal regulations, genetic testing can only be ordered by someone's doctor.