Month: September 2021
House Democrats are proposing a permanent extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits to middle-income earners that would mark the largest expansion of the healthcare law's benefits since its passage in 2010.
President Joe Biden is requiring most federal workers to get COVID-19 shots, without an option to instead get tested weekly, and will propose that workers at large companies get vaccinated or undergo testing. The president’s plan will also double fines for people not in compliance with federal masking requirements, such as on airplanes. Enforcement of ...
Premiums for health insurance for individuals and small group markets are not expected to see large adjustments from carriers in 2022, a new report has found. Regional differences in health care delivery might result in some variation of premiums, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said. The new report, released by the ...
Blue Shield of California and Walgreens today announced a new collaboration to expand access to health care, lower costs, and bring innovative services to enhance the consumer experience for individuals, families, and communities throughout California. The initial phase of the collaboration will center on Walgreens Health Corner™ services – a personalized experience for Blue Shield commercial ...
Providers and insurers want the federal government to take it easy on them as they try to put the surprise billing ban into practice, according to comments on the first regulation stemming from the No Surprises Act. Both industries say they want to protect consumers against balance billing but remain worried they don’t have essential ...
Dive Brief: * The delta variant’s impact on hospitals that began to emerge mid-July is expected to peak late in the third quarter or early in the fourth, according to a new survey of 40 hospital CEOs and CFOs conducted by Jefferies. * Elective and non-emergent volumes were tracking down by about 30% in early September, leading ...
Living unmedicated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Eugenia Hunter has a hard time recalling how long she’s been staying in the tent she calls home at the bustling intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland’s hip Uptown neighborhood. Craft coffee shops and weed dispensaries are plentiful here and one-bedroom ...
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Thursday unveiled the Biden administration’s road map to lowering the cost of prescription drugs. The plan, summarized in a 29-page document, supports legislation that allows the federal government to negotiate lower prices on the costliest drugs each year and pass those savings on to private insurers. Current ...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires group health plans to spend a minimum percentage of premium dollars on members’ health care expenses and services. Likewise, it sets a threshold on the maximum amount of premium dollars that can be spent on other administrative costs, such as marketing, profits, salaries, agent commissions, etc. These requirements, known ...
It’s a situation that appears incongruous: Congressional Democrats want to expand Medicare’s benefits while a trust fund that supports the program is facing insolvency. Indeed, some Republican lawmakers have seized on that looming problem as a reason to oppose a proposal to add dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare. The provision is included in ...