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.
The federal government started shutting down early Wednesday after Congress failed to approve a funding bill before the beginning of the new fiscal year — resulting in widespread ramifications for hundreds of programs and giving the Trump administration an avenue to fire federal workers en masse.
CMS issues guidance calling quits on expanded telehealth flexibilities On day one of the government shutdown, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent out a Medicare Learning Network Connects Newsletter offering guidance on Medicare billing and telehealth services during the lapse in appropriations. The CMS reaffirmed in the guidance that pandemic-era expanded telehealth ...
While enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) grew to include 50% of all Medicare eligibles in 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is projecting a decline for the 2026 plan year.
President Donald Trump and congressional leaders from both parties exited a high-stakes negotiation meeting Monday afternoon with little optimism a deal could be struck before the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown. “I think we’re heading to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President J.D. Vance told ...
President Trump on Tuesday announced that Pfizer had agreed to sell its products in the U.S. at “Most Favored Nation” pricing, one day after the administration required companies to respond to his prescription drug pricing executive order. Drugmakers were given until Sept. 29 to respond to Trump’s “Most Favored Nation” Executive Order that required companies ...
In announcing that branded or patented drugs would be hit with 100 percent tariffs on Oct. 1, Trump also said drugmakers could escape the penalties if they have a U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing plant for which ground has been broken, or is currently under construction.
Millions of Americans who could benefit from GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are caught in the middle of a battle between drug companies and insurers over their costs, leaving them without coverage even as evidence mounts that the drugs could stave off expensive health complications in the future. Insurance coverage for the drugs has barely budged in the ...
Medicare beneficiaries stand to lose access to two key virtual care programs that the federal government has offered since the start of the pandemic if the government shuts down Tuesday at midnight. The Medicare telehealth waivers and Acute Hospital at Home programs are set to expire Oct. 1 unless Congress passes a short-term government funding ...
With the Trump administration scaling back federal efforts to protect Americans from medical bills they can’t pay, advocates for patients and consumers have shifted their work to contain the nation’s medical debt problem to state Capitols. Despite progress in some mostly blue states this year, however, recent setbacks in more conservative legislatures underscore the persistent ...
The Trump administration projects average Medicare Advantage (MA) premiums will decline slightly for the 2026 plan year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Friday that the average monthly premium across all types of MA coverage is set to be $14, down from $16.40 in 2025. This includes MA plans with prescription drug coverage as ...