Biden Signs $1.2T Spending Package To Fund HHS, Other Healthcare Programs

The new tranche includes funding for HHS, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Education, among others. Doing so sustains several healthcare grant programs related to provider training, federally funded health centers and national programs targeting specific disease

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Major Health Bills Fail To Make Cut Amid Competing Priorities

Major bipartisan health bills, including changes to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry and hospital payment reforms, were excluded from the $1.2 trillion government funding bill after members failed to come to a last-minute agreement.

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Nevada Division of Insurance Seeking Public Comment on Essential Health Benefit Changes

The Nevada Division of Insurance (NVDOI) is seeking public input on revisions to Nevada’s essential health benefits (EHB) plan. Nevada’s EHB plan is the benchmark set of health care services that is required for all individual and small group health insurance plans. The current EHB plan is Health Plan of Nevada’s HPN Solutions HMO Platinum ...

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Medicare Will Cover Wegovy To Reduce Heart Disease Risk

Medicare will provide coverage for Wegovy for patients with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or other serious cardiovascular problems, an agency spokesperson said Thursday.

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California Doctors Struggle To Make Payroll One Month After Ransomware Attack

Four weeks since the cyberattack, some providers in California and elsewhere are still waiting to file claims and get reimbursed. In the meantime, they’re scrambling to pay bills and order medical supplies.

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Change Healthcare To Start Processing $14B Claims Backlog As It Restores Clearinghouse Platforms

In its latest update on the response to the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group said on Friday that its largest clearinghouse, called Relay Exchange, will be back online by the end of the weekend and the company will begin processing $14 billion in medical claims. UnitedHealth Group also posted an estimated timeline for restoring its systems ...

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California Voters Pass Proposition 1 To Tackle The State’s Homelessness Crisis

California voters have approved a measure that will impose strict requirements on counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, in a tissue-thin win for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who personally campaigned for the measure’s passage. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a staggering 2-to-1 in California, and the borderline vote ...

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A Mom’s $97,000 Question: How Was Her Baby’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?

Sara England was putting together Ghostbusters costumes for Halloween when she noticed her baby wasn’t doing well. Her 3-month-old son, Amari Vaca, had undergone open-heart surgery two months before, so she called his cardiologist, who recommended getting him checked out. England assigned Amari’s grandparents to trick-or-treat duty with his three older siblings and headed to ...

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No Matter The Risks, More Employers Are Choosing Self-Funded Plans

Although employers choose the plans in order to negotiate lower health care prices, they generally lack market power to do so effectively, so they need to critically assess whether it will help their bottom line, says a new study.

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6 Bad Assumptions To Avoid In Benefit Planning

Here are some of the bad assumptions I have observed over the years that can destroy an employee benefit plan.

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