Industry Updates Category Banner

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.

Insurers Bash Biden’s Mental Health Parity Proposal

Insurers and some employers contend the Biden administration’s recent proposal to bolster coverage of mental and behavioral care could actually backfire and make it more difficult for patients to access quality care. The big picture: The health care payers are urging the administration to drop major features of its plan, including a new formula to determine whether insurers ...

Read More

Rite Aid Is Closing 154 Stores as It Starts to Shed Debt

The pharmacy chain, once the largest in the United States, detailed a batch of store closures in a bankruptcy court filing.

Read More

Kaiser Permanente And Labor Unions Reach Tentative Deal After Strike

Kaiser Permanente and labor unions reached a tentative deal Friday morning, a little more than a week after workers at the nation’s largest health care nonprofit organization went on strike.

Read More

What The Rite Aid Bankruptcy Filing Means For Customers, Prescriptions

The Rite Aid Corporation has filed for bankruptcy protection in order to reduce the company’s sizable debt and restructure. The move, announced Sunday, comes amid Rite Aid’s ongoing financial challenges, including those posed by opioid-related lawsuits.

Read More

EEOC-Initiated Lawsuits Shot Up 52% In Latest Fiscal Year

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed 143 discrimination lawsuits in its just-completed fiscal year—a 52% increase from the 94 reported last year, a spike in activity that employment attorneys predict will be exceeded this fiscal year.

Read More

Surprise Billing Arbitration Is Still A Mess

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.

Read More

How Instacart Is Delivering The Next Healthcare Disruption

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 ...

Read More

Medicare Part B Premiums To Rise By 6 Percent In 2024

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 ...

Read More

The PBM Unbundling Has Begun: How Blue Shield Of California And Others Are Embracing New Models

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.

Read More

New California Law Takes A Step Toward Single-Payer Healthcare

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.

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square