Government Health Care

Laughter erupts from a room tucked away at Independence Village in Petoskey. Inside — three women, all seniors — take turns stepping up to the tee as part of the assisted living center’s Wii bowling league. In another part of the...

The state of Maryland has received a $28.3 million performance bonus for its efforts in enrolling children in federal health programs. The money was given to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...

Two years ago, Connie Fettig knew that a time would come when a difficult decision would need to be made. Fettig’s aunt, Zelda Gilman, was 98 years old and living at an assisted living center in Petoskey. But Fettig knew it wouldn’t be...

The O'Malley administration will introduce legislation in the coming General Assembly that would create the exchanges where people will buy affordable insurance under health care reform. The Board of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, a group convened...

Johns Hopkins intensive care nurse Nelly E. Lopez spends so much of her workday monitoring patient distress alarms that she sometimes hears phantom beeps even when she is no longer on the job. Hopkins doctors say Lopez's "alarm fatigue" shows what is...

Maryland's congressional delegation will have unusual influence in helping to resolve big issues left hanging on Capitol Hill, because two of the state's lawmakers were appointed Friday to help sort out differences between House and Senate legislation....

In Maryland, an orthopedic practice agreed to pay $2.5 million to the federal government to settle allegations that it had billed for patients' visits that never took place and had double-charged for X-ray work to get higher reimbursements. In...

Editor's note: This is the first of a four-part series of columns by Bob Mercer looking at suggestions for government in 2012. The remaining three columns will appear Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the American News.  PIERRE — If you sit through...

Just over a year ago, Russell Mikesell didn’t know how much more fight he had in him. The 65-year-old Ellsworth resident lost his right lung to cancer in February of 2010. He underwent months of chemotherapy and thought he was on the road to...

Editor's note: This is No. 2 in the list of the top 10 news stories of 2011 as ranked by the American News newsroom. The top story will be revealed in Saturday's American News.  For many agencies, the cuts proposed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard for fiscal year...

In July, after months of fundraising and construction, the John and Marnie Demmer Wellness Pavilion and Dialysis Center in Petoskey opened. The center offers rehabilitation and other outpatient services all under one roof. It also helps patients...

Q. I’ve been hearing a lot about “long-term-care insurance.” Won’t Medicare cover my needs? The short answer is, no, probably not. Unlike other types of medical procedures and treatments, long-term care is not primarily...