ACA Category Banner

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.

Omicron: What Do We Know About The New COVID Variant?

Three major issues will determine the magnitude of the impact of the new Omicron variant of the Covid virus will have on the nation and the rest of the planet. What is the transmissibility of this new Covid variant? How good is it at evading the antibodies and T-cells that make up a person’s immune defences?

Read More

Ire Over Pharmacy Middlemen Fuels Lobbying Blitz

Lobbyists for drugmakers, pharmacists and large employers are blanketing Congress with calls, emails and advertisements, pressing lawmakers to rein in pharmaceutical middlemen, who they say are behind soaring drug costs.

Read More

Medicare Telehealth Visits Increased 63-Fold From 2019 To 2020, New Government Data Shows

Dive Brief: * New government data puts in stark relief how dramatically telehealth use exploded last year, with the share of Medicare visits conducted virtually skyrocketing from just 840,000 in 2019 to 52.7 million in 2020. * That’s a nearly 63-fold increase. Specialists like behavioral health providers saw the highest telehealth use relative to their ...

Read More

Touting His Spending Bill, Biden Shifts Focus to Drug Prices

President Biden emphasized how the bill would lower prescription drug costs, an issue his administration hopes will build support for the broader package.

Read More

Federal Appeals Court Lifts Injunction On San Diego Schools’ COVID Vaccine Mandate

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals voted on Saturday to lift a temporary injunction that it had placed on the San Diego Unified School District’s student COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The rare weekend decision, reached by a 2-1 vote, lifts the injunction the court had placed on the mandate about a week ago. Judges had ...

Read More

Out-Of-Pocket Costs May Play Larger Role In Telehealth Visits Than In-Person Care: Survey

Out-of-pocket costs may play a larger role in choosing telehealth over in-person visits for those who would otherwise prefer virtual care, a new survey by the RAND Corporation suggests. In a study conducted in March by the nonprofit research organization and published in JAMA Network Open, researchers assessed post-pandemic patient preferences for telehealth versus in-person care. Nearly ...

Read More

Provider Groups Urge Feds To Change Dispute Process, Good Faith Estimates In Surprise Billing Rule

Provider groups are urging the Biden administration to walk back several provisions in a surprise billing rule, including requirements for providers to offer good-faith estimates to certain patients and what they deem a flawed process for determining out-of-network charges. Providers and payers submitted comments on the interim final rule released back in October. The rule ...

Read More

Vote Thursday Could Mean Higher Insurance Premiums For Unvaccinated State Workers

The 5,000 state employees and 1,400 university employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 could have to pay an additional $55 a month in their insurance plans as well as an additional $175 for unvaccinated dependents over the age of 18 to help recoup testing and hospitalization costs.

Read More

Survey: Many Employers Rolling Out Vaccine Mandates Despite Ongoing Legal Challenges

While the Biden administration's vaccine mandate remains in legal limbo, a new survey suggests many employers are rolling out such requirements anyway.

Read More

Hospital Lobbying Against Medicare Cuts Intensifies

Dive Brief: * Hospital groups are kicking their lobbying up a notch as 2022 approaches, looking to fend off scheduled cuts to Medicare’s provider pay. * Major hospital lobbies sent a letter on Monday to congressional leaders urging them to extend the moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts, and prevent the pay-as-you-go sequester from taking effect. ...

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square