April 3, 2018
The CMS finalized a rule Monday giving Medicare Advantage plans a 3.4% pay hike in 2019. That's well above the 1.84% bump the agency initially proposed and higher that the 2.95% increase for 2018. Read More
April 3, 2018
Sarah Hesketh of the California Association of Public Hospitals — which represents 21 hospitals that are all both disproportionately reliant on Medicaid and enrolled in 340B — said that should providers decide to stay enrolled in 340B to get discounts for their Medicare patients they would continue to be subject to the 340B provider rules banning them from group negotiations for lower drug prices. This would have the unintended consequence of hurting the providers who care for the most Medicaid patients. Read More
March 27, 2018
California signed up an estimated 450,000 people under Medicaid expansion who may not have been eligible for coverage, according to a report by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's chief watchdog. Read More
March 15, 2018
Health insurer Cigna is buying the nation’s biggest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, the latest in a string of proposed tie-ups as health care’s bill payers attempt to get a grip on rising costs. Read More
March 15, 2018
The practice of charging a copay that is higher than the full cost of a drug is called a “clawback” because the middlemen that handle drug claims for insurance companies essentially “claw back” the extra dollars from the pharmacy. Read More
March 15, 2018
In April, the government will start sending out new Medicare cards, launching a massive, yearlong effort to alter how 59 million people enrolled in the federal health insurance program are identified. Read More
March 13, 2018
Betty Doumas-Toto's health insurance premium rose nearly 48 percent in January, to $800 per month for an Affordable Care Act plan. She and her husband are both Los Angeles freelancers in the film industry and are draining their savings trying to keep up with their monthly payments. Read More
March 13, 2018
Amazon has had no problem getting affluent households to buy from its online store. But people with low incomes have been less loyal to the retailer. Read More
March 1, 2018
General counsel for CVS and Aetna vowed at a congressional hearing Tuesday that the companies' merger plans would not lead to increased costs or to restrictions on service offerings—but experts aren't so sure. Read More
February 27, 2018
Seniors in wellness programs targeting obesity, falling and chronic conditions are not sparking healthcare spending decreases, according to a federal analysis released Friday. Read More