Month: June 2022
Harmony is not often found between two of the most boisterous senators on Capitol Hill, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). But it was there at Tuesday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee markup of legislation to reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration’s user fee program, which is set to expire Sept. 30. This user fee program, which ...
Flexible spending accounts can be a useful way for workers to stretch health-care spending dollars further than they otherwise could. However, little is known about how workers use — or don’t use — FSAs. In response, the Employee Benefit Research Institute established the FSA Database to shine a light on this under-researched employee benefit. Analysis of this ...
California state lawmakers approved a $300 billion budget this week, but several key sticking points remain between Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers, which could drag out negotiations on a final spending plan. Under California law, the Legislature must approve a budget by June 15 or forfeit their pay and per diem until they do. The ...
The American Hospital Association has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend enforcement discretion for the No Surprises Act regulatory requirement that healthcare providers exchange certain information to create a good faith estimate for uninsured and self-pay patients – until the agency identifies, and providers can implement, a standard, automated way to exchange the ...
Transparency is an ongoing, major focal point in the health insurance and health care industries. Federal and state laws have been enacted across the country, aimed at making the costs of health care and health insurance more available, transparent, and digestible for consumers and the general public. In 2020, the Departments of Health and Human ...
Four in 10 employees deferred healthcare in the past year, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson. The survey, which polled more than 9,600 workers in the U.S., found that 28% delayed or canceled a medical procedure, while 17% did not fill a prescription. Twenty percent of those surveyed said their provider canceled the ...
Hospital groups and providers are demanding the Biden administration increase a proposed 3.2% pay bump for inpatient payments to facilities, arguing inflation and a staffing crisis are still hitting them hard. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed the pay bump for fiscal year 2023 as part of the Inpatient Prospective Payment System ...
California will cover doula services for low-income residents at more than twice the state’s initial proposed rate under a spending plan lawmakers passed last week. Some advocates welcomed the new benefit in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid health insurance program, as a step toward professionalizing this group of nonmedical birth workers. They say better pay may ...
Meta Platforms Inc. was sued over claims that private medical data is being shared secretly with Facebook when patients access web portals for some health-care providers. Facebook’s Pixel tracking tool redirects patient communications and other supposedly “secure” information without authorization and in violation of federal and state laws, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in San ...
An increasing number of Californians are feeling positive about health care, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, according to a new poll commissioned by Blue Shield of California. The poll of 1,000 Californians was conducted in February of this year.