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.
Medicaid spending soared nearly 14 percent last year—its biggest annual increase in at least two decades—as a result of millions of newly eligible low-income enrollees signing up under the Affordable Care Act, according to a report released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Total spending was highest in the 29 states that expanded Medicaid, the ...
California made national news last week when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to patients who are terminally ill and want to die. But many quieter bills also will change health care in the state. The first half of the 2015-2016 legislative session ended last weekend ...
The window is closing for congressional leaders to avert the double-digit premium hikes that are set to hit 8 million Medicare enrollees next year. Congress has only a handful of weeks to prevent the 52 percent premium hikes — the largest in the program’s history — that will harm seniors and drain state budgets. And with ...
When Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of an older generic drug by more than 5,000 percent last month, the move sparked a public outcry. How, critics wondered, could a firm charge $13.50 a pill for a treatment for a parasitic infection one day and $750 the next? The criticism led Turing’s unapologetic CEO to say ...
Health insurer Aetna’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of smaller rival Humana Inc was approved by the shareholders of both companies. The companies continue to expect the deal to close in the second half of 2016, they said in separate statements on Monday. Aetna in July said it would buy Humana to become the largest provider ...
WASHINGTON — In a surprisingly pessimistic forecast, the Obama administration predicted on Thursday that health insurance enrollment on the Affordable Care Act’s public marketplaces will only inch up from current coverage levels by the end of 2016. After an elaborate analysis of demographic data, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, said ...
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones slammed Aetna Thursday for an “unreasonable” quarterly rate hike on small-business owners that brings the annual average increase to more than 27 percent. The hike affects small employers that renew their health insurance policies in the fourth quarter — and an estimated 40,000 employees. Dept. of Insurance actuaries reviewed Aetna’s ...
CaliforniaChoice is bullish on expansion of the small-group market. Like its public counterpart, Covered California, the private insurance exchange is prepared to welcome employers with 51 to 100 employees into the program Jan. 1, 2016. California law still requires this group to be considered “small employers” for the purpose of health insurance, starting next year. ...
Congressional lawmakers so far have failed to agree on a way to stave off an unprecedented premium increase for millions of Medicare recipients for 2016. That is creating uncertainty for many seniors on Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient care such as doctor’s visits. About 30% of the roughly 52 million people enrolled in Part ...
Jeb Bush on Tuesday will introduce a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But “replace” may not be quite the right word. The Bush plan calls for a familiar mix of conservative ideas on health care, according to campaign documents obtained by The Huffington Post. It would eliminate the coverage scheme of “Obamacare” ...