Month: July 2023
A new study from Virginia Commonwealth University published by the Center for American Progress has reported that the heat wave running rampant across the U.S. is significantly inflating health care costs. The authors of the study — an interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff and students from the university — estimated that heat events each summer are responsible for nearly 235,000 emergency ...
About 225,0000 Californians lost their free or low-cost health coverage as of July 1, in the first round of a Medi-Cal renewal process that had been suspended since early in the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s approximately 21% of the over 1 million people who were due to reapply for coverage in June, according to preliminary numbers ...
Medicare Advantage plans could end up getting too much money from the government — by as much as $1.6 trillion — over the next decade, putting pressure on the trust fund that supports Medicare. This forecast comes from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which looked at the intricacies of insurance coding, as well ...
The Biden administration on Thursday asked employers to give workers who lose Medicaid coverage more time to sign up for health insurance through their jobs. Medicaid is the state- and federally funded program that covers health care costs for people with low incomes. States have resumed checks for Medicaid eligibility this year after pausing the practice during ...
U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced Tuesday it is suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, becoming the latest of several organizations challenging the provision established by the Inflation Reduction Act. J&J joins fellow pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co., Bristol Myers Squibb as well as ...
It has become as familiar a sight in Washington as the cherry blossoms in spring: lobbyists from the nation’s hospitals descending on the Capitol to ask lawmakers to postpone billions in Medicaid funding cuts prescribed by the Affordable Care Act — cuts industry leaders agreed to years ago.
Republican members of California’s congressional delegation, this week sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to end the state tax on health savings accounts. Dubbed HSAs, these accounts allow someone to set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses.
The new regulations, which still need to go through a public comment period, would require insurers to study whether their customers have equal access to medical and mental health benefits and to take remedial action, if necessary.
As the industry gears up for open enrollment to begin this fall, a new report offers a look into the major factors that could impact premium changes in the individual and small group markets. The top issues to watch over the next several months include ongoing inflation, the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency ...
Inflation may be cooling, but high medical costs could still make consumers pay more for Affordable Care Act health insurance in 2024.