Month: March 2022
Industry provider groups are again asking Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to extend the government’s COVID-19 public health emergency, which is set to expire April 16. In a letter sent Monday, 10 national hospital and health system organizations acknowledged growing interest in ending the PHE due to the country’s ongoing ...
The DMHC issued its final guidance on the No Surprises Act, confirming that the Knox-Keene Act constitutes a “specified state law” under the Act. The out-of-network reimbursement requirements for emergency services and the dispute resolution process in the NSA will therefore not apply to DMHC claims. Instead, health plans must continue to comply with the Knox-Keene Act ...
A $35-a-month cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs could benefit more than 1 in 4 Americans on the individual and small group markets and 1 in 5 in large employer-sponsored plans, a new analysis found. The analysis, published Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, comes as Democrats are working to renew efforts to install a $35 ...
A federal appeals court has overturned rulings that would have required an insurer to reconsider its denials of tens of thousands of claims for mental health, drug and alcohol care.In decisions in 2019 and 2020, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero of San Francisco said United Behavioral Health, which manages mental health services for insurance giant ...
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to authorize a second coronavirus vaccine booster for anyone 50 and older, a bid to provide an extra layer of protection amid concerns Europe’s rise in infections from an omicron subvariant could hit the United States, according to several government officials. The authorizations for second Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna boosters could be announced ...
Oscar-winning actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock made the biggest headlines out of the Oscars Sunday night. But the sponsorship from Pfizer and COVID shot partner BioNTech was for the pharma marketing world a bigger moment. The vaccine-making pair, which teamed up two years ago and produced the world’s biggest-selling product last year in ...
A newly identified California Chamber of Commerce job killer bill that is opposed by more than 60 organizations passed the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee yesterday. The bill, SB 1044 (Durazo; D-Los Angeles), allows employees to leave work or refuse to show up to work if the employee subjectively feels unsafe regardless of existing health and ...
California will lift COVID-19 vaccine and negative test requirements for large indoor events like concerts and games starting April 1, state officials announced last week.
It would cost California between $494 billion and $552 billion annually to operate the single-payer health care system envisioned in a bill that died last month in the supermajority-Democratic Legislature, according to a Tuesday analysis. The cost estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office is significantly higher than one prepared by committee staffers in January.
The winter Omicron surge hit Southern California harder than any other part of the state, a Times data analysis found, again underscoring the region’s vulnerability.