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.
As the industry gears up for open enrollment to begin this fall, a new report offers a look into the major factors that could impact premium changes in the individual and small group markets. The top issues to watch over the next several months include ongoing inflation, the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency ...
Inflation may be cooling, but high medical costs could still make consumers pay more for Affordable Care Act health insurance in 2024.
The Supreme Court just issued two decisions that will affect the legal landscape for employers for years to come. Although the Court’s rulings on affirmative action and religious accommodation will have different short-term impacts, it is highly likely that each decision will give rise to new legal challenges that could significantly alter how employers hire and manage their workers.
A recent report from the Conference Board says businesses that require or ask their remote workers to come back to the workplace are getting serious pushback. The desire to continue to work remotely is so strong that many employees say they will quit working if they can’t stay away, and find an employer that permits remote working.
The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal.
FEE SCHEDULE DROPS — CMS released its highly anticipated proposed physician fee schedule last week, and it quickly drew applause — and scorn — from industry groups. The 1,920-page document lays out how the agency proposes to pay doctors in the Medicare system in 2024. CMS touted it as a win for health equity, price transparency and behavioral health. ...
UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH.N) quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates on Friday as a smaller-than-expected jump in medical costs allayed fears that a resumption in long-delayed surgical procedures would hit profit growth. The company’s results allowed investors to breathe a sigh of relief following a $60-billion wipeout in industry market value last month, after UnitedHealth raised alarms about rising costs. ...
Flush times continue in Washington for telehealth advocates, marked most recently by victories in the House and at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week. CMS proposed to boost payment rates to providers for the virtual care they give to Medicare patients in their homes. And a House subcommittee approved a bill that would ...
(Bloomberg) — Three federal agencies are looking into potentially predatory practices in medical-payment products such as credit cards and installment loans patients use to pay for health care. Yellen Says US-China Ties on ‘Surer Footing’ After Beijing Visit Jack Ma’s Clash With Beijing Costs Ant, Alibaba $850 Billion China’s Flood of Plastic, Yellen Departs: ...
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday it has charged 78 people relating to their alleged involvement in defrauding care programs for elderly and disabled people of more than $2.5 billion. Among the charges filed against the accused are allegations of telemedicine fraud, pharmaceutical fraud and accusations of opioid distribution. Many of the defendants obtained ...