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.
The president said an extension of subsidies that help people pay for health insurance "may be necessary" to buy time for a broader overhaul.
The federal government has announced the results of the latest round of Medicare drug price negotiations: 15 lower drug prices for Medicare to go into effect in 2027. Medicare will get a 71% discount on Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, blockbuster drugs for obesity and Type 2 diabetes that have current list prices of around a thousand dollars ...
President Trump’s trial balloon for extending the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies has been shot down, but the real moment of truth for him and Congress may come in the run-up to the next government funding cliff, in late January. Why it matters: There still are multiple scenarios for preventing steep increases in premium costs for millions of ...
Medicare program managers could make life a little easier in 2027 for employers that offer health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements or individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement plans. Officials want to exempt the sponsors from having to tell health plan participants who are ages 65 or older whether they have solid prescription drug coverage. The ...
Healthcare organizations are facing evolving ransomware tactics as data extortion attacks are on the rise. Cyber attackers are taking advantage of the sensitive data held by healthcare providers to launch quicker and easier attacks, according to Sophos, a cybersecurity software and security services company. Attackers are increasingly focused on data extortion, or data theft, rather ...
Breakthroughs in weight-loss medicine are presenting state Medicaid officials with what looks like a sure bet: Spend big now to cover the drugs and reap savings when diabetes, heart disease and cancer rates drop. States are hesitating to take it. The few states that have decided to cover drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy to help ...
The White House has postponed the rollout of a new GOP plan on Affordable Care Act subsidies amid pushback from Republicans in Congress. Why it matters: The issue could aggravate already frayed relationships with Hill conservatives who oppose an extension of enhanced tax credits that are due to expire at the end of the year. Driving the news: Some ...
Officials from several U.S. states say Americans relying on subsidies to afford Obamacare health insurance are holding off on enrolling as they face 2026 premium hikes that could more than double, with one state seeing enrollment drag by as much as 33%. Of more than a dozen states that directly sell to their residents plans ...
Employers expect to see health benefits rise by 6.7% in 2026, reaching more than $18,500 per employee on average, according to a new report. Analysts at Mercer estimate that health costs in 2025 reached an average of $17,496 for each employee, growth of 6%. That’s a rate that outpaced inflation and wage growth, according to the report. ...
Many small and midsize U.S. employers may be so angry about the cost of health benefits that they will rush to try something completely different, even if they don’t know much about the new coverage strategy. Vitable, a direct primary care plan manager, has published data on employers’ fight to hold down health benefits costs ...