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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.

New Covered California Leader Urges Renewal of Enhanced Federal Aid for Health Premiums

When she was Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner, Jessica Altman, the appointee of a Democratic governor, often bumped against the political limits of health care policy in a state where Republicans controlled the legislature. Despite the constraints of a divided government, Altman played a key role in persuading lawmakers in 2019 to join Gov. Tom Wolf in passing ...

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Report: US Plant Closure Portends Drug Shortages—Some Critical

In its first analysis, the newly formed End Drug Shortages Alliance (EDSA) warns that the recent shuttering of a troubled Teva Pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant in Irvine, California, could affect the availability of 24 generic sterile injectable drugs, including 5 essential medications for which the company had an over 15% market share. The Israel-based, multinational Teva, one ...

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Anthem Shareholders OK Rebrand As Elevance Health

Anthem’s shareholders have signed off on the insurer’s corporate rebrand as Elevance Health. With the shareholder approval, Anthem will commemorate the name change on June 28 by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange before trading under the new ticker ELV, the company said in an announcement. “The result of today’s vote reflects the shareholders’ ...

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Rising Google Searches For Procedures Suggest Recovering Demand, Analysts Say

Dive Brief: * Searches on Google for 20 common, nonemergent procedures are above pre-pandemic levels, providing another data point that indicates demand is recovering, according to analysts at Needham. * The analysts believe Google Trends data may indicate the level of consumer interest in certain procedures, leading them to track the resource to understand changes over ...

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NAHU CEO: ‘Medicare For All’ Moves From Congress To The States

Congress has backed off "Medicare for All" for the time being. But legislators in several states are now taking up the charge.

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Employee Productivity Is Up, But So Is Burnout

Remote work has resulted in a boost in productivity, according to a new report, but worker burnout has also skyrocketed. That’s according to a survey of 175 HR executives in the U.S. recently released by The Conference Board. Sixty-two percent of organizations with primarily remote workforces said they’ve seen productivity grow since the start of the pandemic, the report said. ...

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New Covered California Leader Urges Renewal of Enhanced Federal Aid for Health Premiums

When she was Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner, Jessica Altman, the appointee of a Democratic governor, often bumped against the political limits of health care policy in a state where Republicans controlled the legislature. Despite the constraints of a divided government, Altman played a key role in persuading lawmakers in 2019 to join Gov. Tom Wolf in passing ...

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Employers Pay Hospitals Billions More Than Medicare

Employers and private insurance plans in 2020 paid hospitals 224% of what Medicare paid for the same services, with rates for inpatient and outpatient care varying widely from site to site, a new report from RAND finds.

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Hospital Labor Expenses Up 37% From Pre-Pandemic Levels In March

Dive Brief: * Hospitals’ labor costs rose by more than a third from pre-pandemic levels by March 2022, according to a report out Wednesday from Kaufman Hall. * Heightened temporary and traveling labor costs were a main contributor, with contract labor accounting for 11% of hospitals’ total labor expenses in 2022 compared to 2% in 2019, the report ...

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5 Predictions For Employee Benefits In 2022 And Beyond

Employers need to be forward-thinking regarding employee benefits because this crucial feature can make or break a company. As people are less likely to stay at their current positions, they’re also much less interested in applying with any company that doesn’t offer them benefits such as health care or vacation time.

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