CMS Projects Health Spending to Grow 5.6% Annually Over Next Decade

National healthcare spending is projected to grow 5.6% annually over the next decade, according to a CMS report published Wednesday by Health Affairs.

Read More

Employers Balk at Curbs on Generous Health Plans

The Affordable Care Act’s tax on high-cost employer health plans faced sharp opposition from employers and unions. Now, Republicans are drawing equal fire for ACA replacement proposals that those groups say would have some of the same effects.

Read More

MetLife Joins Choice Builder Ancillary Benefits Exchange

CHOICE Administrators announced today the expansion of its Choice Builder® ancillary benefits exchange to include four new MetLife Dental PPO plans. The new options are available to employers with two to 199 employees for coverage effective April 1, 2017, or later. They include three employer-sponsored Dental PPO choices and one voluntary Dental PPO plan.

Read More

A Deep Dive Into 4 GOP Talking Points On Health Care

Republican leaders have a lengthy list of talking points about the shortcomings of the health law. Shortly before his inauguration last month, President Donald Trump said that it “is a complete and total disaster. It’s imploding as we sit.” And they can point to a host of issues, including premium increases averaging more than 20 percent this year, a drop in the number of insurers competing on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and rising consumer discontent with high deductibles and limited doctor networks.

Read More

Leaked HHS Draft Order to Fix Insurance Market Draws Mixed Reviews

A leaked draft rule from HHS intended to help stabilize the individual insurance market highlights the narrow limits of what the Trump administration can do on healthcare reform without action by a deeply polarized Congress. HHS reportedly has submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget but no details of the rule have been disclosed by either agency. Politico, however, obtained two different draft versions of the rule.

Read More

Conservatives Urge Speedup Of Health Law Repeal, Dismiss Calls For Caution

Leading conservative Republicans from the House and Senate say Congress is moving too slowly on efforts to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. But their potential resistance to compromise — even with other members of their own party — underscores just how hard a task Republicans have set for themselves.

Read More

Blocked Insurer Mergers: What the Decisions Mean and What Lies Ahead

When four of the country’s five largest for-profit health insurers announced two summers ago that they would pair off, many saw the moves as a game changer. Now, with both the Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna deals struck down by the federal courts, the implications for both the health insurance industry and antitrust enforcement are just as powerful. Here’s what the experts say about what those decisions mean, and what the future could hold.

Read More

Tom Price Is Sworn In as Health Secretary Amid Senate Disunity

President Trump’s secretary of health and human services, Tom Price, took office on Friday with a promise to fix what he called a “broken health care system” that was “harming Americans and their families.” Mr. Price was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence just hours after the Senate, by a party-line vote of 52 to 47, confirmed his nomination in the early hours of Friday morning.

Read More

12.2 Million Sign Up for “Obamacare” Despite Its Problems

More than 12.2 million people have signed up for coverage nationwide this year under the Obama-era health care law even with the uncertainty created by President Donald Trump's vow to repeal and replace it.

Read More

Drugmaker Marathon “Pausing” Delivery Of $89,000-A-Year Muscular Dystrophy Drug

In a surprise move Monday, Marathon Pharmaceuticals told patient advocates that it would “pause” the launch of its drug Emflaza because of pricing concerns expressed by patients and advocacy groups.

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square