Month: October 2023
Democratic members of the Senate Budget Committee voiced support for taxing the wealthy and increasing Medicare spending, arguing Republicans want to keep the status quo for corporations enjoying favorable tax breaks, during a hearing Thursday. The Medicare Fund could become insolvent as early as 2031, according to analysis by the boards of trustees of the Social Security ...
Recent reports suggest that health insurance costs are climbing at rates not seen in years. Consulting firm Mercer found in its 2023 national survey of employer-sponsored health plans that employers expect health benefit costs will rise 5.4% on average in 2024. Factors contributing to the higher costs are higher inflation and labor shortages. According to ...
While digital health still holds plenty of promise in healthcare, the lack of cohesion between Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health plans about just what digital services should be covered is a major hindrance to its expansion, according to an issue brief (PDF) by the American Medical Association (AMA). Medicare follows coverage guidelines laid out by the Centers ...
The Biden administration has gutted many of former President Donald Trump’s health care policies, but there’s one that the White House has yet to touch, Kelly reports. It’s a 2019 rule that expanded individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, or ICHRAs, which allowed employers to provide tax-exempt subsidies to help workers purchase Obamacare plans. The Biden administration’s ...
In a major victory for patients who depend on prescription drugs, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down a Trump administration federal rule that allowed health insurers to not count drug manufacturer copay assistance towards a beneficiary’s out-of-pocket costs. The case was brought against the U.S. Department of Health and ...
Seven percent. That’s the increase in medical costs for health plans that global consulting firm PwC estimates for 2024. But where did the number come from? Should health plan managers, and plan sponsors, be factoring it in with confidence? Based on PwC’s latest in-depth survey of health plan actuaries that represent 100 million covered lives, the answer is “yes.”
A deal more than a decade in the making came to fruition on Sept. 29, when CEOs for both Sansum Clinic and Sutter Health announced the finalization of a partnership between the two nonprofit health care entities. Based in Santa Barbara, Sansum is now part of Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based organization that operates a network ...
The industry is just two weeks away from the beginning of Medicare’s annual enrollment period, a critical window for the hottest market in insurance. The period begins Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7, and Medicare beneficiaries will be tasked with the critical decision of enrolling in the fee-for-service program or opting instead for Medicare ...
Without federal intervention, states that have seen megamergers, such as Michigan and California, are often left to wrestle with the complex question of how to respond, given the likelihood of higher prices for their residents.
Consumers who’ve ordered free home coronavirus tests through a federal website could be in for a surprise: they might get kits with expiration dates that passed months ago. But experts say you shouldn’t immediately discard those tests. Even though you might not see it on the packaging, the federal government has extended expiration dates on many of ...