Many Workers, Particularly at Small Firms, Face High Premiums to Enroll in Family Coverage, Leaving Many in the ‘Family Glitch’

The Biden Administration recently issued a proposed rule to make it easier for family members of workers offered health insurance at their jobs to qualify for premium tax credits for Marketplace coverage. The proposal aims to address what has been called the “family glitch”. Under the ACA, an individual enrolling in a Marketplace plan is not eligible ...

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DMHC Guidance Confirms that California Law, Not the Federal No Surprises Act, Governs Payment and Dispute Resolution Processes for Certain...

Executive Summary The California Department of Managed Health Care (“DMHC”) issued a recent guidance interpreting the application of the No Surprises Act (“NSA”)—a new federal law prohibiting out-of-network healthcare providers from balance-billing patients for certain emergency and non-emergency services—in California.  Significantly, when determining which payment and dispute resolution processes will apply in a dispute regarding the value ...

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Arbiters To Expand Surprise Billing Dispute Resolution Reviews, CMS Says

Surprise billing dispute arbiters will need to consider information in addition to median contracted rates for billed items or services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in revised guidance. Providers and health insurers can submit the following types of information to influence arbiters’ decisions on qualifying payment amounts: * Training, experience and quality ...

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FDA Grants Emergency Authorization For First COVID-19 Breathalyzer Test

Americans will be able to find out if they have COVID-19 with a breathalyzer test, the Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday. The FDA granted an emergency use authorization to a test produced by InspectIR Systems that collects a breath sample and analyzes for chemical compounds associated with the coronavirus, the first of its kind to ...

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ACA Marketplace Premiums Decline For Third Consecutive Year, Urban Institute Finds

Dive Brief: * The average premium for ACA marketplace coverage dipped 1.8% in 2022 compared with the prior year, an analysis from the Urban Institute, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found. * It’s the third consecutive year average ACA premiums declined, bucking the trend of sustained increases for job-based coverage, which provides insurance to a majority ...

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CMS Proposes Acute Hospitals Get 3.2% Pay Bump In 2023, Calls For Equity Quality Measures

The Biden administration is proposing that acute care hospitals get a 3.2% increase in payments for federal fiscal 2023 and to install new quality measures focused on health equity. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule and a separate rule for long-term care hospitals. The ...

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Biden Admin Plots To Fix Obamacare’s ‘Family Glitch,’ Expand Coverage

The Biden administration is planning on Tuesday to propose a long-sought change to the Affordable Care Act aimed at lowering health insurance costs for millions of Americans, four people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO.

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Supreme Court Weighs Employer’s Challenge To California Labor Law

The Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed an employer’s challenge to a California labor law that authorizes private attorneys to sue on behalf of thousands of workers, even if those workers had agreed to arbitrate their claims individually.

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Record Fines Might Mean California Is Finally Serious About Improving Medi-Cal

A few weeks ago, state regulators imposed a record $55 million in fines on L.A. Care, California’s largest Medi-Cal managed-care plan, for failing to ensure adequate care and allowing treatment delays that threatened enrollees’ health. Patient advocates hope the move signals stricter enforcement against other Medi-Cal insurers, which have many of the same shortcomings for which the regulators just fined L.A. Care.

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Coronavirus Cases Are Spiking Elsewhere. Will L.A. County Be Hit Hard Or Be Spared?

After dramatic declines in coronavirus cases, Los Angeles County has hit another plateau this week that comes amid the spread of the highly infectious BA.2 Omicron subvariant.

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