Author: Scott Welch
Medicare Advantage (MA) markets are highly concentrated across the country, according to a new study from KFF. As of 2024, 90% of Medicare beneficiaries live in a county where those enrolled in MA had plans sponsored by just one or two insurers, according to the report. The researchers found that 79% of counties were highly ...
UnitedHealthcare is rolling out a new benefit to encourage preventive cancer screenings. The insurer’s new breast and colon cancer detection benefit will be available for eligible commercial plans starting Jan. 1, 2026. Through the program, UHC will cover members’ first diagnostic imaging tests for breast cancer and diagnostic tests for colon cancer. This closes a ...
H.R.1—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—contains several provisions that directly affect employer-provided benefit programs, primarily health and welfare programs.
Trump’s sweeping plan slashes Medicaid and food aid, putting millions of Californians at risk — especially low-income residents, undocumented immigrants and rural communities.
After weeks of contract negotiations that threatened to disrupt medical care for tens of thousands of Californians, UC Health and Blue Shield of California have reached a new agreeme
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed on the 4th of July will take a $340 billion bite out of hospital budgets over a decade to pay for tax cuts and other Trump priorities. Then again, maybe it won’t.
Rising health costs and expected fallout from President Trump’s tax-and-spending law are casting a pall over major health insurers, who’ve been issuing a steady drip of grim financial forecasts over the past month. Why it matters: Higher drug costs and increased demand for services including mental health care are squeezing health plans. And the new law is ...
California is one of the most affordable states for buying health insurance through marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” according to a new analysis. The personal finance company WalletHub found that the average California household spends 5.84% of its income on these types of health insurance premiums. That’s among the ...
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said his agency may fast-track new drugs from pharmaceutical companies that “equalize” the cost of their medicines between the US and other countries, an unusual proposition from the regulator that’s long avoided contentious pricing debates. The comments, made in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week with David Westin, offer insight into ...
The Trump administration is threatening to impose large tariffs on drugs imported into the United States, although they wouldn’t take effect for at least a year. “If they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country, the drugs and other things into the country, they’re going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like ...