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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.

AHIP Presses For ACA Subsidy Extension, Further Program Integrity Measures

As Congress continues to debate next steps on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) enhanced subsidies, insurers are urging legislators to consider an extension with additional program integrity measures in place. AHIP said in a statement Wednesday that “common sense” steps to promote integrity can help mitigate the risks related to fraudulent enrollment in ACA plans or subsidies. ...

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Major Public Health PBM Regulation Bill Reintroduced

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have teamed up to bring back a major pharmacy benefit manager regulation bill. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the committee chairman, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, joined to introduce the “PBM Price Transparency and Accountability Act” bill. The highly popular ...

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Affordable Care Act Enrollment Is Slightly Ahead Of Last Year So Far, Despite Expiring Subsidies

The number of Americans signing up for Affordable Care Act health insurance for 2026 is moderately higher than it was at a similar time last year, initial new federal data shows, even as subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025 will make the coverage more expensive for many. Seen at face value, the data from the Center for Medicare ...

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HDHPs Push Millions With Chronic Conditions Into Dangerous Health Choices

David Garza sometimes feels as if he doesn’t have health insurance now that he pays so much to treat his Type 2 diabetes. His monthly premium payment of $435 for family coverage is roughly the same as the insurance at his previous job. But the policy at his current job carries an annual deductible of ...

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Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, Humana Exploring Partnership To Tackle Employer Drug Costs

Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs and Humana are exploring a potential partnership to help lower the cost of prescription drugs for employers. Cuban, an entrepreneur, businessman and TV personality who co-founded Cost Plus Drugs, said the company is in discussions with Humana to work with its CenterWell healthcare services business to provide a better pharmacy ...

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Insurance Coverage Of Hepatitis B Vaccine Won’t Change, Industry And Officials Say

Parents will still be able to get the hepatitis B vaccine for their children at no cost even though the US Centers for Disease and Control Prevention’s vaccine advisers recommended a major change to the immunization practice. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose members were chosen by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. ...

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Schumer Announces Health Care Plan

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer officially unveiled Democrats’ plan for a health care vote next week, saying Thursday on the chamber floor his caucus will propose extending soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years. “This is the bill, a clean three-year extension of ACA tax credits, that Democrats will bring to the floor of ...

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House Votes To Pass 5-Year Hospital At Home Extension, Sending Bill To The Senate

The House of Representatives unanimously voted to pass a bill Monday that extends the Medicare hospital at home program for five years. Hospital at home providers have been mired in uncertainty for years. Though Congress has repeatedly extended hospital at home flexibilities, it often only does so for a handful of months at a time. ...

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Lobbyists Are Salivating For More Of Trump’s Drug Price Deals

Lobbyists for some of the world’s largest drug companies are parading a new pricing deal in the U.K. as a model the rest of Europe should emulate if it wants to keep drugmakers from bailing for America. To President Donald Trump and the lobbyists’ delight, British officials agreed to spend 25 percent more on new ...

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Senate Barrels Toward Failure On Health Care

Senators have about a week before they’re set to vote on soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies. Most of them already believe the chances for a bipartisan breakthrough by then are roughly zero. There’s no clear momentum for any plan that would avoid a lapse in tax credits that could raise insurance premiums for 20 million ...

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