Author: Scott Welch
Democrats on Tuesday announced an agreement on drug pricing reform, coming out in favor of allowing Medicare Part D to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for the first time since its creation, a move the drug industry has fought for nearly two decades.
The pharmaceutical industry has strongly resisted some of the proposals presented in the years-long drug pricing brouhaha, and the final result is "not a bad outcome" for drugmakers, one team of analysts recently stated.
New bipartisan legislation aims to outlaw several practices employed by hospitals critics say harm competition, including requirements for payers to contract with affiliated providers. The legislation introduced Tuesday by Sens. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, aims to ensure more affordable contracts between payers and providers. “When large health systems engage in anticompetitive practices ...
Kaiser Permanente posted a $1.6 billion profit for the third quarter, which is down by nearly half from the $3 billion it generated in the previous quarter. The 39-hospital system and health plan’s earnings, reported Friday, were affected by a major surge of COVID-19 that caused expenses to increase. Kaiser Permanente’s hospital system and health ...
Americans have more ways than ever to access health care virtually, with direct-to-consumer companies popping up to treat minor issues on-demand and traditional health plans and providers offering their own telehealth services. Yet it’s not always clear how the booming direct-to-consumer platforms stack up against the more established offerings — a missing link that means ...
The House late Friday passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, leaving a vote on President Biden’s larger social and climate package until centrists in the Democratic Party get estimates on its full cost. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act now heads to the president’s desk for his signature, while the larger Build Back Better Act, ...
Trendy-looking websites promise convenience and freedom from networks, at far less than the cost of traditional health insurance. “Welcome to insurance that’s finally fair,” says one, in bold lettering. “Take care of your health with one easy app,” says another. It’s all part of shopping for health coverage in 2021. While they’re still niche products, ...
Nearly 100 million U.S. workers will be required to get the COVID vaccine by Jan. 4, with some workers allowed to test weekly instead, under sweeping federal rules released Thursday by the Biden administration that identifies COVID-19 as an occupational hazard. The regulations are aimed at health care workers and businesses with 100 or more ...
A federal judge found drug companies cannot unilaterally restrict sales of products discounted under the 340B program to contract pharmacies. But a separate ruling found that manufacturers don’t have to provide discounts. The opinions, released late Friday, are the latest in a legal fight between six drugmakers and the Biden administration over whether they must ...
UnitedHealth Group has topped the industry in profitability for the third straight quarter, according to company earnings reports. The healthcare giant reported $4.1 billion in profit in the third quarter, an increase of nearly $1 billion year over year. That’s leagues ahead of its main national insurer competitors, which were all largely on par with one ...