Month: October 2021

Large majorities of American voters across all political stripes favor letting Medicare negotiate drug prices, and most don't buy into the argument that high drug prices are needed for drug companies to invest in new research, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

New data show that 7 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries didn’t compare plans during the 2018 open enrollment period, even though plans can change in their benefits and costs.

Patients are months away from not having to worry about most surprise medical bills — those extra costs that can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars when people are unknowingly treated by an out-of-network doctor or hospital.

President Joe Biden renewed his call for private employers to require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying “we are going to beat this pandemic” if more Americans get their shots. “Without them, we face endless months of chaos in our hospitals, damage to our economy and anxiety in our schools and empty restaurants and much ...

Gavin Newsom put California’s health care industry on notice when he was a candidate for governor, vowing in 2018 to go after the insurance companies, doctors and hospitals that leave many Californians struggling with enormous medical bills and rising insurance premiums.

San Francisco will loosen its mask mandate for certain indoor spaces on Oct. 15, but in the city and much of the rest of the Bay Area, people will still be required to wear face coverings in most public places for the next couple of months and possibly into 2022, according to new rules announced Thursday.

Nine out of 10 Medicare Advantage members are enrolled in plans that earned the government's highest quality marks for 2022, according to new federal data.

Due largely to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and its continued effects on American healthcare, employers are expecting their health costs to rise more than 5% in 2022, according to a new Willis Towers Watson survey.

Teladoc Health is taking its primary care pilot nationwide, expanding it to commercial health plans, employers and other payers. The telehealth giant piloted its virtual primary care program, called Primary360, in 2019 with the aim of early detection of chronic disease. The service now offers 70 distinct diagnoses such as hypertension and diabetes, Teladoc CEO Jason ...

For a brief moment this summer, it seemed like small businesses might be getting a break from the relentless onslaught of the pandemic. More Americans, many of them vaccinated, flocked to restaurants and stores without needing to mask up or socially distance. But then came a surge in cases due to the delta variant, a ...