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.
Nearly two years after a surprise medical bill ban took effect, the process for settling billing disputes between insurers and providers is still mired in litigation and many cases remain unresolved.
Grocery delivery company Instacart is expanding its number of partnerships with hospitals and health systems to incorporate medical expertise and benefits into their services, aiming to enhance patient access to nutritious food and promote a healthy lifestyle. Instacart launched its Instacart Health initiative in September 2022 and has since partnered with Boston Children’s Hospital; Orange, Calif.-based Alignment ...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the monthly Medicare Part A and B premiums for 2024 on Thursday, with the costs set to go up by 6 percent next year. The premiums would increase by $9.80 from $164.90 to $174.70 in 2024 and the annual deductible for Medicare Part B beneficiaries will ...
Using Blue Shield of California as a precedent, more health entities may scale back their reliance on their PBMs in favor of centers of excellence that provide specific services. But this new approach to pharmacy benefits needs an organized and connected way for information to be shared.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Saturday that sets the stage for California to work toward universal healthcare, such as a single-payer system that progressive activists have sought for years.
A historic three-day strike at Kaiser Permanente ended on Saturday, but the parties have not yet agreed to a new contract for over 75,000 workers. The unions say another strike may be coming.
Businesses are bracing for an explosion in the use of new weight loss drugs, with some investors betting that these medications could precipitate seismic shifts not only in how Americans eat but which clothes they buy and even how much they weigh down passenger airplanes. Some companies say they are already noticing a difference in ...
Just two weeks after dozens of CVS pharmacists protested unsafe working conditions by walking off the job in Kansas City, Walgreens pharmacists followed suit with their own walkout Monday that left stores shuttered or short-staffed across the nation’s second-largest retail pharmacy chain. The organizer estimated that several hundred pharmacists and pharmacy technicians participated in the protest, which ...
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), ranking member of the HELP Committee, recently floated changes in artificial intelligence regulation in health care and sought feedback on the potential framework. Pulse obtained a number of the responses from groups representing members across the sector, including hospitals, health IT leaders, health plans and more. Some responses called for lawmakers and regulators to avoid creating ...
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) met with representatives from the health insurance industry on Wednesday, receiving commitments that the updated COVID-19 vaccines will be covered after reports arose of some people having to pay out-of-pocket for their immunizations.