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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.

Tens Of Thousands Of Kaiser Workers To Begin Strike: 7 Things To Know

Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers across multiple states are set for a five-day strike Oct. 14. Seven things to know: 1. The strike involves several member locals of the Alliance of Health Care Unions, a federation of 23 union locals representing 62,000 employees. A spokesperson for Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser told Becker’s that about 43,000 workers represented by ...

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Small Employers To Be Hit Hardest As Federal Health Coverage Rolls Back

The government health program fights in Washington could hit small employers hard, because government programs provide health benefits for 19% of their workers. Medicaid covers 5% of all U.S. workers and 11% of workers at employers with fewer than 50 employees, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey results posted Thursday. Individual and family plans purchased through the ...

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Vance Says ACA Tax Credits Fuel Fraud

Vice President Vance said Sunday that subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fuel waste and fraud in the insurance industry, as Republicans refuse Democratic demands to extend the tax credits ahead of open enrollment next month. “The tax credits go to some people deservedly. And we think the tax credits actually go to a lot of waste ...

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California’s Nursing Shortage Is Getting Worse. Front-Line Workers Blame Management.

California, like much of the nation, is not producing enough nurses working at bedsides to meet the needs of an aging and diverse population, fueling a workforce crunch that risks endangering quality patient care. Nearly 60% of California counties, stretching between the borders with Mexico and Oregon, face a nursing shortage, according to state data. Democratic Gov. Gavin ...

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IRS Publishes 2026 Benefits Parameters For Cafeteria Plans, Health Reimbursement Plans

Fortunetellers already know how U.S. benefits professionals will spend some of their time from now through mid-2027: They will keep searching the internet for the minimum numbers, maximum numbers and other numbers that shape how the tax breaks for health benefits and other benefits work in 2026. The Internal Revenue Service publishes several batches of ...

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‘Trumprx.Gov’ Could Cripple Pharmacies, Disrupt Employer Plan Management

The federal government could cut the full retail price of some prescription drugs if it sets up a web-based drug outlet mall, but “TrumpRx.gov” could also create new problems for employers. Dae Lee and Natalie Oehlers, pharmacy benefits law experts at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, write about the possible dark side of TrumpRx in a new ...

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ACA Subsidies Expiration Will Cause 114% Average Premium Increase In 2026

Premium payments will more than double in 2026 if enhanced premium tax credits are allowed to expire at the end of this year as scheduled, a KFF analysis found.

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Trump Says He’s Open To Health Care Deal But Government Must Reopen First

President Donald Trump cracked the door slightly to negotiations with Democrats on the health care subsidies they’ve made central to the shutdown fight, then abruptly closed it Monday, leaving the two sides once again at a seemingly intractable impasse. Democrats are conditioning their support for a short-term funding patch on extending the health subsidies that lessen the cost of ...

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What Will ‘TrumpRx’ Actually Mean For Patients? Who Will Benefit Most From Slashed Drug Costs — And What Those Savings...

Could “TrumpRx” be the prescription for lower drug prices? President Donald Trump announced a landmark deal with Pfizer to cut drug prices and sell medications on TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer federal website that’s slated to launch next year. Prescription drug prices in the US are roughly 2.78 times higher on average than in 33 other high-income countries, a ...

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Trump Delays Threatened 100 Percent Tariffs On Drugs

The Trump administration is holding off on its threatened 100 percent tariffs on drugmakers that aren’t building facilities in the U.S., with officials saying the new tax is still being prepared. President Trump said on his Truth Social platform last week that, “Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded ...

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