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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.

Child Enrollment in Public Health Programs Fell by 600K Last Year

The number of kids enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — two government health plans for the poor — fell by nearly 600,000 in the first 11 months of 2018, a precipitous drop that has puzzled and alarmed many health policy analysts, while several states say it reflects the good news of an improving economy.

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Study: High-Deductible Health Plans Aren’t Making Members Better Healthcare Consumers

Though high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have proliferated, members who have them often don’t act as empowered, discerning consumers, which can lead to delays in care, according to new research. 

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How Much Difference Will Eli Lilly’s Half-Price Insulin Make?

When Erin Gilmer filled her insulin prescription at a Denver-area Walgreens in January, she paid $8.50. U.S. taxpayers paid another $280.51.

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Newsom Aims to Remake Health Council Into Single-Payer Commission

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to gut California's new Council on Health Care Delivery Systems and remake it into his own single-payer commission, according to a summary of the plan obtained by POLITICO, as health care advocates jostle for position in California's single-payer debate.

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Saying No to the Nurses: California Democrats Aren’t Pushing Government-Run Health Care This Year

Many California Democrats say they support single-payer health care, but none introduced a new version of the state’s landmark single-payer bill before a key deadline last week.

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State Lawmakers Push to End Surprise Emergency Room Bills

Assemblyman David Chiu and state Sen. Scott Wiener, both of San Francisco, announced a bill Monday that would prevent public hospitals from charging emergency room patients whose insurance won't cover their medical bills. This practice is called “balance billing,” and according to Chiu, it’s costing Californians thousands of dollars.

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California Misclassified Independent Contractors Settle for Employee Status – Is It the Right Choice?

WHILE INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS ARE FIGHTING TO BE CLASSIFIED AS EMPLOYEES WITH BENEFITS, SOME INDIE WORKERS WHO HAD THEIR DAY IN COURT, WERE DEEMED MISCLASSIFIED AND ARE NOW WORKING “9 TO 5” WANT THEIR FREEDOM BACK.

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Drug Industry Defense for High Prices: Blame Insurance Companies

A line of defense is emerging for top prescription drug companies whose topexecutives will be pulled before Congress on Tuesday to testify about high prices for medicine: They are not to blame.

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Progressives Tout ‘Medicare-For-All’ But States Eye “Medicaid Buy-In’

Laura Lucero Y Ruiz De Gutierrez has a heart condition and fibromyalgia and is in danger of developing diabetes. She has health insurance through her husband’s job. But, between the $800 monthly premium for the couple’s coverage and the $2,100 deductible she has to pay down before insurance starts picking up the tab, she doesn’t feel she can afford to go to the doctor when she needs to.

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Advisers Need to Get Smarter About Using Benefits Tech

There is increasingly a push for benefit advisers to bring new technology to clients, but they may need to be more strategic when using it.

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