Month: October 2016

Specialty drug costs jumped 30 percent last year to $587 million for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, one of the nation’s largest health care purchasers.

As controversy about the pricing of EpiPens reverberates from Capitol Hill to school districts across the country, one recurring complaint from consumers is that the high cost is magnified because the drug expires quickly, forcing users to regularly bear the cost of replacing the medicine that saves lives in the event of a severe allergic reaction.

Some Medicare recipients may see their charges for Part B doctor coverage jump more than 20% in January.

The nation’s largest health insurer and the University of California Health system are joining forces to create a new health plan option for employers and expand research into patient data.

An overwhelming majority of Americans favor government action to restrain prescription drug prices, according to a poll released Thursday.

The enrollee share of premiums in the health-care program for federal employees and retirees will rise 6.2 percent on average in 2017, an increase about in line with the general trend for employer-sponsored health insurance, the government announced Wednesday.

What Are Some Major Trends Affecting Large Groups?

Gov. Jerry Brown signed off on a variety of bills in September that aim to protect patients and health care consumers.

The fierce struggle to enact and carry out the Affordable Care Act was supposed to put an end to 75 years of fighting for a health care system to insure all Americans. Instead, the law’s troubles could make it just a way station on the road to another, more stable health care system, the shape of which could be determined on Election Day.

California’s revolutionary expansion of the small group employer category has greatly increased new business opportunities for brokers who adapt to the healthcare reform-driven marketplace.