Low-value Care

17 Services That Medicare Wants People to Stop Using

Abstract: The goal of Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction is to “help protect American taxpayers” by “helping patients and providers avoid unnecessary or inappropriate care,” according to the government. The 17 affected services are commonly overused or historically have had a higher risk of waste, fraud and abuse, according to the Lown Institute, a health care think tank

Publication: MSN

Date Published: September 26, 2025

Author(s): MTN Staff

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To eliminate medication overload, serious cultural, educational, and policy changes are needed. This action plan offers recommendations for policymakers, health care institutions, clinicians, and patients across five key categories to reduce harm from multiple medication use. Suggested Citation: Eliminating medication overload: A national action plan. Working Group on Medication Overload. Brookline, MA: The Lown Institute, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46241/LI.YLBW4885

Pharmaceutical marketing is a significant factor in the growing public health crisis of medication overload, which puts millions of older adults at risk of preventable harm and premature death. This issue brief provides recommendations to reduce pharmaceutical industry influence by limiting pharma sales rep visits to clinicians and direct-to-consumer advertising.

This issue brief provides recommendations for clinical practice guidelines and electronic health records that would give clinicians the information they need to appropriately prescribe and deprescribe.