The Case For The Debt-Ceiling Deal’s Work Requirements

There are concerns about the deal to raise the debt ceiling struck over Memorial Day weekend. One hang-up some conservatives have is the insufficient amount of provisions stipulating that individuals must engage in employment, job training, or community service to qualify for certain government-assistance programs.

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Newsom and Democratic Lawmakers at Odds Over Billions in Health Care Funds

Democratic lawmakers say they agreed to fine Californians without health insurance on the condition the state use that money to lower costs for residents purchasing coverage on the state exchange. They say Gov. Gavin Newsom has reneged on the deal.

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House E&C Committee Moves PBM, Price Transparency Bill Forward

The bill would require PBMs to meet new transparency requirements and would ban spread pricing in Medicaid. The (PATIENT) Act mandates that PBMs compile annual reports for employers with a slew of key information, including their drug spending, out-of-pocket costs, rebates, formulary placement and acquisition costs.

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Record-High HSA Limit Coming for 2024

Health savings accounts (HSAs) offer a tax-advantaged way to save money to pay for certain medical expenses. Your HSA contributions are tax-deductible, so they potentially help reduce your taxable income. But contributions to your health savings account are limited each year by the IRS,

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As Pandemic Flexibilities Unwind, Here’s How Enrollment In Different Types Of Coverage Could Change

As flexibilities rolled out during the COVID-19 pandemic wind down, there will be plenty of factors at play that could impact uninsured rates in the coming years. Analysts at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) project that while the rate will increase from current levels, it will decline over the next decade from pre-pandemic levels. They ...

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Employers Face Soaring Demand For Obesity Care Benefits. Virtual Care Players Are Jumping In With A Slew Of Offerings

Employers are seeing surging demand from their workers for benefits that cover obesity treatment and this is opening up considerable market opportunities for virtual care players. A recent survey found that 44% of people with obesity would change jobs to gain coverage for treatment. And more than half of workers would stay at a job they ...

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Denials of Health Insurance Claims Are Rising — And Getting Weirder

Millions of Americans in the past few years have run into this experience: filing a health care insurance claim that once might have been paid immediately but instead is just as quickly denied. If the experience and the insurer’s explanation often seem arbitrary and absurd, that might be because companies appear increasingly likely to employ ...

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‘We’re At A Standstill’: Patients Can Face Agonizing Waits For Hospital Transfers

When the pain kicked in again in February, Lahisha Marquez-Soto held off on going to the hospital for days, until she was struggling to walk out of her college dorm in Carson. Eight days into her stay at MLK Community Hospital, doctors knew she needed another facility. She needed a medical procedure that would allow ...

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Healthcare Must Set Guardrails Around AI For Transparency And Safety

Four in 10 patients perceive implicit bias in their physicians, according to a MITRE-Harris survey on the patient experience. In addition to patients being extra sensitive to provider bias, the use of AI tools and machine learning models also have been shown to skew toward racial bias. On a related note, a recent study found 60% of Americans ...

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CVS Could Lose Up To $1B Next Year From MA Star Ratings Drop

Dive Brief: CVS expects its 2024 operating income to drop by $800 million to $1 billion next year due to lost bonus payments from lower plan star ratings in the Medicare Advantage program. Just 21% of CVS’ MA members are currently in plans with a star rating of at least four, down from 87% at the ...

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