Compliance
This section focuses on health care compliance and regulations – both national and state – including the ACA. It includes changes in health care law, regulation, and court decisions and their impact on health insurance professionals, employers, and individuals.
Intentions were good, but the new federal rules that were supposed to make hospital bills easier to figure out are instead doing little to help. Hospital prices and reimbursements have long been a riddle wrapped around a cipher. Why the same surgical procedure, aspirin, or IV vary so much in cost between facilities, health systems, ...
Even if enough people build natural immunity to Covid-19 by catching the highly contagious Omicron variant, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci said it is too soon to say if this will spell an end to the pandemic. On Monday, Dr. Fauci, President Biden’s top medical adviser for Covid, was asked at the online World Economic Forum ...
Most Medicare beneficiaries in Parts A and B are expected to be enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans by next year, but spending on the plans is going to continue to outpace traditional fee-for-service, a congressional advisory panel found. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a panel that makes recommendations to Congress on Medicare policy, released ...
Surging coronavirus cases in the United States, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, have prompted renewed recommendations from health experts that the public should consider wearing more protective face coverings, such as N95 or KN95 masks. President Biden also said his administration is working on making such higher-quality masks more widely available. “Next week, we’ll announce how we are making ...
More than 28.5 million seniors and people with disabilities were enrolled in a private Medicare Advantage plan as of Jan. 1, an 8.8% increase from the same time in 2021, according to new federal data analyzed by Axios. Why it matters: Enrollment in the controversial MA program continues to grow, and based on prior full-year trends, enrollment in ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to extend Medi-Cal coverage to all low-income, undocumented adults, a historic expansion that would make California the first state in the nation to provide universal health care access for all residents regardless of legal status.
Among its many new requirements for employee benefit plans, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) created new compensation disclosure requirements related to group health plans. Specifically, the new rules require brokers and consultants anticipated to earn $1,000 or more in direct or indirect compensation related to group health plans to disclose that compensation to the plan sponsor reasonably in advance of entering into an agreement to provide that service.
Insurers must cover at least eight at-home COVID-19 tests per covered individual starting on Saturday, per a new directive from the Biden Administration.
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a telebriefing. Director Rochelle Walensky presided, along with two career scientists. The substance was notable — updated COVID-19 guidance for K-12 schools. But even more notable was the fact that the briefing was happening at all. It was the first such briefing in months, despite the ...
The start of a new year brings recurring compliance items for employers, employees, and individual taxpayers to consider. Here is what you need to know. California Individual Mandate Continues California’s state individual mandate, which began 1/1/2020, continues into 2022 and the foreseeable future. Under California’s Individual Health Care Mandate, Californians are required to have qualifying ...