Author: Scott Welch
Democratic lawmakers shied away from legislation that would have put state government in charge of health care and taxed Californians heavily to do so — a massive transformation that would have forced them to take on the powerful health care industry.
A federal judge has partially revived California’s “pay for delay” law, which prohibits pharmaceutical companies from paying competitors to keep generic drugs off the market. But the law’s author said the latest ruling would still allow companies to sidestep enforcement. The 2020 law, the first of its kind in the nation, was aimed at a ...
California schools and childcare facilities no longer have to require masks indoors after March 11, state officials announced Monday, although masks are still “highly recommended.” The announcement does not necessarily mean that all San Diego County students will be able to ditch masks immediately after that date, however. Schools can continue to require masks if ...
Last year, as expected, life insurers in the United States paid out a large number of Covid-19 death-benefit payouts. Surprisingly, many people saw an increase in other types of death claims as well. Many of the other fatalities, according to industry executives and actuaries, are linked to delays in medical care as a result of ...
Providers say they dodged a bullet when the Biden administration decided to redesign the Direct Contracting Model instead of eliminating it entirely as progressive lawmakers and groups demanded. However, it remains unclear whether the redesigned model set to launch next year will quell criticisms from progressives that the model will lead to the privatization of ...
Employers continue to grapple with the ripple effects of the pandemic as more than one-third of employees report long COVID symptoms that impact their ability to work, including higher rates of depression, anxiety and absenteeism. Among those employees who are still having long-term effects, 71% are experiencing greater levels of depression or anxiety and many ...
CVS Caremark kept overall drug trend for clients to 2.4% over the first three quarters of 2021, marking multiple years of single-digit trend in drug price growth. The pharmacy benefit management arm of CVS Health also kept its specialty drug trend to single digits through the third quarter, at an industry-low 5.8%, according to the ...
Those working in the healthcare sector saw smaller average wage increases during the first 15 months of the pandemic compared to workers across other industries, according to a recent analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Average wages in healthcare rose 5% from 2019 to 2020 while all industries’ average wages rose 6.7% during ...
U.S. health officials are optimistic, albeit cautiously, the country has turned the corner on the unprecedented wave of infection caused by the omicron Covid variant as new cases plummet 90% from a pandemic record set just five weeks ago. As the nation emerges from the omicron wave, U.S. and state leaders are trying to mentally ...
The long-awaited guidance is finally here. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday significantly eased its mask recommendations, including for schools, as part of updated guidance for dealing with COVID-19. Under the new guidelines, more than 70 percent of the U.S. population is in an area with “low” or “medium” COVID-19 community level, ...