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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.

Humana Pulls Back The Curtain On Planning For 2027 MA Bids

Humana executives gave investors a peek Wednesday into the company’s thinking around the 2027 Medicare Advantage bid cycle as elevated costs continue to sting the industry. CEO Jim Rechtin said during the insurer’s earnings call that to achieve the goal of returning to a “stable margin” by 2028, it will need to look at adjustments ...

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Health Costs Still A Top Voter Concern, Poll Finds

Health costs continue to top the public’s list of affordability worries, and while Democrats have an edge over Republicans, both parties need to do more to convince independents, according to a new poll from health policy research group KFF. About nine in 10 voters said the issue of health costs will influence their decision to vote and who to vote for in ...

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Why a Supreme Court Case on ‘Skinny Labeling’ Matters for Drug Costs

Supreme Court justices on Wednesday heard oral arguments over a drug approval pathway that could have implications for the availability of cheaper generic medicines. The case, Hikma v. Amarin, centers on “skinny labeling,” a process that allows generic drugs to come to market faster. Under the skinny labeling pathway, the Food and Drug Administration allows ...

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Big Companies Position Themselves for Payday From $50B Federal Rural Health Fund

When Congress approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, it cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade. Now, the hope is the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, which was part of the same bill, will help keep patients covered.

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Who Wants To Be California’s Insurance Commissioner? Your Guide To The Candidates

CalMatters interviewed five leading candidates who want to regulate one of the world’s biggest insurance markets. Here’s what they said.

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FTC Files Suit Over Telemarketing Scheme Selling Fake PPO Insurance

The Federal Trade Commission has filed suit to intervene in a scheme in which it says fraudulent telemarketers targeted individuals seeking insurance coverage. Per the complaint (PDF), which was filed earlier this month, the FTC alleges that participants in the scheme—who operated under names like American Collective and Innovative Partners—would contact consumers and tell them that they ...

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Novartis CEO Warns Reality Of Trump’s Drug Pricing Policy Will Set In Over ‘The Next 18 Months’

Novartis’ CEO warned Tuesday that the U.S. drug pricing policy under President Donald Trump poses a “very difficult situation” and the reality will soon catch up with both drugmakers and patients. “The longer-term implications are significant,” CEO Vas Narasimhan told CNBC’s Carolin Roth. “The reality of MFN is going to set in in the next 18 ...

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Insurers Have Eliminated 11% Of Prior Authorizations Under Reform Pledge

Last summer, the insurance industry broadly agreed to reform a major healthcare pain point: prior authorization. Now, two of the industry’s leading organizations are offering a look at progress toward those goals. AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association released a report on Tuesday that found leading health plans reduced prior authorizations for an array of ...

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CMS, FDA Announce New Program To Speed Up Medicare Coverage Of Breakthrough Medical Devices

The Trump administration unveiled a new program to speed up Medicare coverage for breakthrough devices, touting that the new pathway cuts red tape for medical device companies to gain reimbursement. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Thursday the Regulatory Alignment for Predictable and ...

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Johnson & Johnson To Launch On TrumpRx With 4 Of Its Prescription Drugs

Drug-making giant Johnson & Johnson will officially start marketing four of its medications on the Trump administration’s TrumpRx website on Friday, CBS News exclusively learned. The pharmaceutical company announced in January that it had entered into a voluntary agreement with the Trump administration to lower costs for Americans by providing Medicaid access to affordable prescriptions ...

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