Author: Scott Welch
The number of Medicare Advantage plans that offer supplemental benefits continues to grow, according to new data from the Better Medicare Alliance. The analysis, conducted by Milliman, found the number of plans offering such benefits increased across 36 out of 41 categories from 2020 to plan year 2021. That includes increases across 15 of 17 traditional supplemental ...
Covered California launched a new television ad campaign on Monday to reach uninsured Californians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ads support Covered California’s new special-enrollment period, which started on Feb. 1 and runs through May 15, to let uninsured Californians know that they still have time to sign up for health insurance. “Taking care of ...
Approximately 30% of hospitals are not complying with a new rule that requires them to post payer-negotiated rates, with a lack of resources the main reason, a new analysis found. The analysis of more than 1,000 providers across 27 states completed by consulting firm Guidehouse found larger health systems were more likely to comply with the rule ...
Anthony Fauci said he thinks that by April it will by “open season” for vaccinations in the country, and anyone who wants a shot will be able to get one. Speaking on NBC’s “Today,” Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor and science adviser to President Biden, predicted the rate of vaccinations will pick up in ...
It will take years, not months, to gain the upper hand in the coronavirus pandemic — and it will require thinking well beyond our borders, says Dr. Larry Brilliant. The 76-year-old Bay Area epidemiologist, who has worked to eradicate smallpox, polio and co-founded the Seva Foundation in Berkeley to combat blindness, has a unique perspective ...
Scientists don’t know yet whether the mutation makes the variants more contagious, but they are concerned that it might.
COVID-19 caused a massive 51% drop in outpatient Medicare fee-for-service claims last April compared to 2019 as the pandemic reached full swing, according to a new analysis. The analysis, released Tuesday from consulting firm Avalere Health, sought to explore the impact of the pandemic on healthcare utilization from March through May. The pandemic caused doctors’ offices to ...
The Pentagon has authorized more than 1,000 active-duty service members to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with its vaccination effort against COVID-19. The 1,110 active-duty troops will be broken up into teams of 222 people to support five state vaccination sites, according to a Defense Department fact sheet released Friday.
Nurses are cheering California’s decision to end emergency waivers to hospitals and nursing homes, which have allowed the institutions to require nurses to care for more patients than state law allows at any one time.
The bill, which the Ways and Means Committee will mark up later this week, would fully subsidize ACA coverage for people earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level and those on unemployment insurance.