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Industry Updates

This broad category includes articles concerning health insurance costs, carrier and health plan news, changing benefits technology, and surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation and others on employee benefits.

FTC Chief Says Tech Advancements Risk Health Care Price Fixing

New technologies are making it easier for companies to fix prices and discriminate against individual consumers, the Biden administration’s top consumer watchdog said Tuesday. Algorithms make it possible for companies to fix prices without explicitly coordinating with one another, posing a new test for regulators policing the market, said Lina Khan, chair of the Federal ...

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Walgreens Launches Specialty Pharmacy Unit To Compete In New PBM Era

Walgreens (WBA) is standing up a new specialty pharmacy segment to compete in an increasingly crowded pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) and specialty pharmacy space. The company announced Thursday its new business unit and brand name: Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. The business “rolls up all Walgreens specialty pharmacy segment assets, including AllianceRx,” the company said in a ...

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California’s New Health Insurance Bills In 2024

In California, more than 2,100 bills were introduced for consideration by lawmakers in the second year of our 2023-2024 legislative session. For a bill to become law, it must pass through both the state Senate and Assembly, typically requiring a majority vote.

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CalChamber-Led Coalition Opposing State-Run Health Care System

A large and diverse coalition of 150 California business representatives have joined a CalChamber-led coalition in strong opposition to AB 2200 (Kalra; D-San Jose), a job killer bill, that would create an expensive government bureaucracy to finance a state-run health care system.

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Federal Agencies Open Online Portal For Reporting Anticompetitive Practices In Healthcare

Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled HealthyCompetition.gov, an online portal where anyone can submit a healthcare competition complaint for potential investigation.

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Ten Things to Know About Consolidation in Health Care Provider Markets

Mergers and acquisitions involving hospitals and other health care providers are drawing attention from federal and state regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission, and policymakers amid concerns that such consolidations can reduce competition and contribute to the high costs of health care. A new KFF brief examines and summarizes the evidence about consolidation among health care providers ...

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$1,000-A-Month Ozempic, New Weight Loss Drug, Costs $5 To Manufacture: Yale Study

Novo Nordisk's list price for a monthly package of Ozempic is $935.77 before insurance and other rebates, yet it can be manufactured for between $0.89 to $4.73 a month, according to researchers at Yale University.

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No More $35 Insulin Cap? Eli Lilly, Plaintiffs Call Off $13.5M Class Action Settlement

A settlement between the drugmaker and insulin patients that would have capped patients' out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 for 4 years has fallen apart, after an "unfavorable ruling" from the judge overseeing the case.

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HHS Streamlines 340B Dispute Process To Hospitals’ Applause, Pharma’s Disappointment

The Biden administration has put the finishing touches on the steps entities covered under the 340B Drug Discount Program must take to resolve disputes with drug manufacturers. The final rule, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this week, landed to the delight of ...

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Lawsuit Alleges Obamacare Plan-Switching Scheme Targeted Low-Income Consumers

A wide-ranging lawsuit filed Friday outlines a moneymaking scheme by which large insurance sales agency call centers enrolled people into Affordable Care Act plans or switched their coverage, all without their permission.

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