E-Witch

The federal government intervened in six lawsuits alleging that Kaiser Permanente upcoded claims for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, the Justice Department said Friday.

The Oakland, Calif.-based integrated health system allegedly pressured its physicians to augment medical records often months after the care was provided to boost its Medicare reimbursement. Doctors added risk-adjusting diagnoses that patients did not have or were not addressed, the lawsuits claim.

“The federal government pays hundreds of billions of dollars every year to Medicare Advantage Plans,” Matt Kirsch, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, said in prepared remarks. “The District of Colorado will vigorously pursue investigations with our partners to make sure that money supports necessary healthcare, not fraud.”

Kaiser said it is confident that the company is compliant with MA requirements and will defend itself against the lawsuits alleging otherwise, noting nearly a decade of “strong performance” on CMS’ risk adjustment audits.

“Our

Researchers are trying to unravel why some COVID-19 survivors suffer “brain fog” and other problems that can last for months, and new findings suggest some worrisome overlaps with Alzheimer’s disease.

One study of older adults in Argentina found a surprising amount of dementia-like changes in memory and thinking for at least six months after a bout with the coronavirus — regardless of the severity of their infection. Other researchers found Alzheimer’s-related proteins in the blood of New Yorkers whose COVID-19 triggered brain symptoms early on.

The preliminary findings were reported at an Alzheimer’s Association meeting Thursday. Experts stress far more research is needed — and getting underway — to tell if COVID-19 might raise the risk of Alzheimer’s or other brain problems later in life, or if people eventually recover.

The possibilities “are real and troubling,” but it’s too soon to know “whether this is really going to result in