Author: Scott Welch
Healthcare insurance premiums remained stable in 2022 compared to 2021 but might surge next year because of inflation and the demands of employees for better mental health coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey.” “Demand” might be the right word, given the competition among employers for workers in a tight ...
It would be understandable if some leaders of self-funded benefits plans have not devoted ample time and attention to the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), introduced into law in late 2021. Plan sponsors, including big and small companies, labor unions, and other organizations that provide health benefits, have had their hands full fending off challenges on ...
Toni Sherwin is actually looking forward to the procedure that will relocate her dialysis port from her chest to her arm, which will be easier to keep dry. Since she started dialysis in February — as part of blood cancer treatment — she has washed her hair in the sink and stayed out of her ...
After several business groups complained about the original timeline of the DOL’s proposed independent contractor rule, the agency is now allowing interested parties 15 additional days to comment on the rule. The U.S. Department of Labor extended the deadline from November 28 to December 13. The proposed rule, released on October 11 (and published in the ...
For 23 years, the private ambulance industry in California had gone without an increase in the base rate the state pays it to transport Medicaid enrollees. At the start of the year, it asked the state legislature to more than triple the rate, from around $110 to $350 per ride. The request went unheeded. In September, American ...
Operating costs in healthcare centers and hospitals across the country are rising amid inflationary pressures, staffing shortages and supply chain disruption, and such locations are going to have to continue implementing measures to help mitigate the highly challenging situation, according to a report from the Medical Group Management Association. While revenues vary across locations, costs rose almost universally from ...
The federal government has eased its annual punishments for hospitals with higher-than-expected readmission rates in an acknowledgment of the upheaval the covid-19 pandemic has caused, resulting in the lightest penalties since 2014. The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has been a mainstay of Medicare’s hospital payment system since it began in 2012. Created by the Affordable ...
The Biden administration issued a final rule that seeks to make it easier for beneficiaries to enroll in Medicare and curb delays in getting coverage. The final rule, released Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), would expand the number of special enrollment periods (SEPs) to let beneficiaries change their coverage outside ...
Business Insurance has selected The Word & Brown Companies among its “Best Places to Work in Insurance” for 2022. The award recognizes outstanding insurance-related employers for their outstanding performance in establishing workplaces where employees can thrive, enjoy their work, and help the companies grow.
According to experts, inflation is expected to increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs for people next year. It's because employees might have to pay more for health insurance coverage starting in 2023.