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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.

Senators Ask CEOs Why Their Drugs Cost So Much More In The U.S.

Sparks flew on Capitol Hill Thursday as the CEOs of three drug companies faced questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions about why drug prices are so much higher in the United States than they are in the rest of the world.

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California Lawmaker Takes Another Shot At Single-Payer Health Care

This isn’t the first time Assemblymember Ash Kalra has tried to create a single-payer health coverage system in California. The San Jose Democrat first introduced Assembly Bill 1400 about three years ago. Called Guaranteed Health Care for All, it sought to create CalCare — a universal, single-payer health care coverage and cost control system for the state. ...

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In Fight Over Medicare Payments, the Hospital Lobby Shows Its Strength

In the battle to control health care costs, hospitals are deploying their political power to protect their bottom lines. The point of contention: For decades, Medicare has paid hospitals — including hospital-owned physician practices that may not be physically located in a hospital building — about double the rates it pays other doctors and facilities ...

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GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility

GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting “ideas and dreams,” and, as GoFundMe’s co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, “for life’s important moments.” In the early years, it funded honeymoon trips, graduation gifts, and church missions to overseas hospitals in need. Now GoFundMe has become a go-to platform for patients trying ...

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Employee Benefits Help Provide A Solid Financial Foundation For Many U.S. Workers

Employee benefits help provide a solid financial foundation for many U.S. workers. Seven in 10 have at least one employer-provided insurance policy other than health insurance this year. “Insurance is the bread and butter of many financial advisors, but we must know what protections clients get at work to make sure our offerings are as ...

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Oscar Health Execs Weigh In On Future Of ACA Subsidies, Signal 2024 Profitability

Enrollment in individual market plans continues to grow, with a record high of 21.3 million people signing up for plans during the most recent open enrollment period. Much of that, however, is due to expanded premium subsidies, which launched during the pandemic and were extended through 2025. Officials at Oscar Health, which has reaped the ...

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‘Behind the Times’: Washington Tries to Catch Up With AI’s Use in Health Care

Lawmakers and regulators in Washington are starting to puzzle over how to regulate artificial intelligence in health care — and the AI industry thinks there’s a good chance they’ll mess it up. “It’s an incredibly daunting problem,” said Bob Wachter, the chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco. “There’s a ...

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U.S. Drug Prices Are 278% Higher Than Other Developed Countries

It is not news that prices paid for prescription drug are higher in the U.S. than prices paid in other developed countries. But a RAND analysis published today shows that difference is growing and remains.

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Most Adults Have No Idea What They Should Expect To Pay For Health Care

Fewer than 1 in 5 adults (17%) say they know how much health care products or services will cost in advance, according to new Gallup polling with Bentley University.

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Facing The Future: Health Insurance And Health Care 2024 Trends

Health insurance and health care industry analysts don’t all agree. But there is some consensus about a few “hot topics” likely to impact brokers and your clients in 2024. Let’s take a look at five. Rising Health Insurance Premiums As we reported last fall, U.S. employers are expected to see a larger increase in premiums ...

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