Author: Scott Welch
U.S. employers expect health insurance costs to rise an average 5.8% in 2025, largely due to increased cost of medical services as well as higher use, according to a survey released by consulting firm Mercer on Thursday.
This year marked the expiration of certain pandemic-era policies that offered a temporary boost to insurers' star ratings, according to the report. However, the study notes that despite the decrease from 2023, bonus payments in 2024 are higher than any year from 2015 to 2022.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Missouri federal court, the PBM argues that the report was filled with "false and misleading claims" about the industry. Express Scripts said that it cooperated in full with the FTC as it conducted its research over the course of two years.
The proportion of Americans without health insurance remained stable in 2023, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, close to the record low the Biden administration achieved in 2022 through expansions of public programs, including the Affordable Care Act. About 8% of Americans were uninsured, a statistically insignificant increase of just 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. ...
Republicans voted Wednesday morning in favor of a resolution disapproving of a Biden administration rule limiting access to association health plans. With a vote of 23-12, House Committee on Education and the Workforce members offered support for association health plans, a provision that is supported by some organizations such as the National Federation of Independent ...
Medicare Advantage plans have been successful in enrolling Medicare beneficiaries and delivering to those clients. Despite this, some insurers are downsizing their share of the market and hospitals are canceling or not renewing their contracts to serve plan members – leaving enrollees in the lurch. In recent months, Humana, CVS and some smaller insurers announced ...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon decide whether the most populous U.S. state will join 25 others in regulating the middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, whom many policymakers blame for the soaring cost of prescription drugs. PBMs have been under fire for years for alleged profiteering and anticompetitive conduct, but efforts to ...
A growing number of U.S. adults are hesitant to get recommended vaccines this fall, a new survey found. The poll, which included 1,006 people, found that only 43% of respondents have gotten or plan to get the COVID vaccine. Only a slight majority (56%) of adults said they have gotten or plan to get the flu shot this ...
More than 50 years after the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was signed into law, a House hearing Sept. 10 delved into ways to protect and improve the legislation. Expert witnesses emphasized the importance of the law and legislation they think would bolster the underlying strength of ERISA. Lawmakers and witnesses approved of ERISA ...
Beyond their calls for increased outpatient payments, hospitals are urging the Biden administration to reconsider a plan for new care requirements that they say would “inadvertently reduce access to vital obstetrical services.” In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Calendar Year 2025 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and ASC Payment ...