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Ryan’s plan would put people now 54 and younger in a different kind of health care program when they retire, unlike the Medicare that their parents and grandparents have known. Instead of coverage for a set of benefits prescribed from Washington, they’d get a federal payment to buy private insurance from a choice of government-regulated plans.

The administration’s plan involves accountable care organizations, which are networks of hospitals, doctors, rehabilitation centers and other providers. They would work together to cut out duplicative tests and procedures, prevent medical errors, and focus on keeping patients healthier and out of the emergency room.

By Mary Agnes Carey Raising Medicare’s eligibility age by two years would save the federal government $7.6 billion but those costs —and more — would...

Annual cost of popular drugs that faced generic competition in 2010 increased by an average of $762 from 2005-2009.

With nearly 10,000 people a day turning 60 and the widespread fear they’ll eventually bankrupt Social Security, at times it can feel the United States is inevitably headed for a battle between young and old over how federal government dollars are spent.

Far more people than previously believed are providing billions of hours of unpaid care for Alzheimer’s patients, highlighting the growing impact of a graying population.

Republicans in charge of the House are facing two unappealing options on the budget. One is to lead with their chins and offer politically toxic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and, perhaps, Social Security. Or, they could play it safe — but then endorse trillion-dollar deficits that would enrage their tea party backers.

In the midst of the budget crisis, an old debate has broken out with new force: Should Social Security be seen as part of the deficit that Washington needs to rein in? The White House is balking at calls to tackle Social Security’s financial problems now, before baby boomers swamp the system. But the massive retirement program, like the rest of the government, is running a deficit and has become part of the argument on Capitol Hill.

ctor Mickey Rooney told Congress, March 2, that he was left powerless by a family member who took and misused his money. “I felt trapped, scared, used and frustrated,” Rooney told a special Senate committee considering legislation to curb abuses of senior citizens. “But above all, when a man feels helpless, it’s terrible.”

Chapter by chapter, Jackson takes on topics about which much ink has been spilled since the first boomer qualified for a senior discount. These include menopause (a nightmare) and the related topic of sex after menopause (try sex toys); diet and exercise (essential), and how they might stave off age-related disease (along with MRIs, EKGs and CT scans).