Industry Updates Category Banner

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.

New Data Show Mental Health Claims Continue to Rise in the U.S.

LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, a leading provider of data and analytics, today released its latest healthcare data brief highlighting new insights on key mental health trends including the continued increase in claims for mental health care, shifts in telehealth and in-person utilization, and specific diagnoses that have surged between 2019 and 2023. The brief analyzes de-identified medical claims and ...

Read More

Buffett’s Berkshire Reveals $6.7 Billion Stake in Insurer Chubb

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unveiled a $6.7 billion stake in insurer Chubb Ltd., ending months of suspense over its mystery position in a financial firm, previously kept concealed in regulatory filings. Berkshire disclosed the holding in a filing on Wednesday, reflecting its positions at the end of the first quarter. The conglomerate has been ...

Read More

Why Newsom’s Allies In Health Care Are Slamming His Budget

One of Newsom’s proposals is to sweep up an extra $7 billion from the state’s renewed tax on some health plans, called managed care organizations. These funds were initially promised to go toward pay raises for some health care workers and other health care investments.

Read More

Health Costs Threaten To Overshadow Biden’s Historic Coverage Gains

President Biden has come closer than any of his Democratic predecessors to reaching the party's long-standing goal of universal health coverage, but unaffordable care costs may overshadow the achievement.

Read More

IRS Announces HSA, HDHP Limits For 2025

Next year, the new limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans are a slight bump, following 2024's largest-ever increase to the amount employees can set aside in their accounts.

Read More

Employers Facing Rising Health Care Costs Get Tough On Providers

Employers trying to rein in rising health costs are also taking the fight directly to health care providers. Why it matters: New transparency around the price of health care services and workers’ mounting frustration with costs are emboldening some employers to get tough in negotiations with hospitals and provider groups. “We can improve quality and can make health care more ...

Read More

Your Doctor (And ChatGPT) Will See You Now. A Peek Into AI-Assisted Medical Visits.

Dr. Rebecca Mishuris remembers her mother, also a doctor, bringing home her patients’ medical charts every night and working on them long after she’d gone to bed. For years, Mishuris, a primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, repeated the ritual herself. But no more. Since last summer, she’s been piloting two competing software ...

Read More

ERISA Turns 50: Reflections And Reform Recommendations From NABIP

The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will mark its 50th anniversary this year, after being signed into law by President Gerald Ford on September 2, 1974. As modern business practices evolve far beyond the 1970s landscape that initially established ERISA, lawmakers are now considering significant changes to align the law with today’s challenges ...

Read More

DOL’s New Fiduciary Rule: Already Under Fire From Life Insurance & Annuity Industry Groups

The Retirement Security Rule, finalized on April 23, is polarizing and is sure to face significant legal challenges (one lawsuit has already been filed), because the rule applies a new, heightened fiduciary duty to the insurance industry.

Read More

‘Lifesaving Medication’: Bill Aims To Cut Prescription Drug Prices For Seniors

The Reducing Drug Prices for Seniors Act would require prescription drug coinsurance payments for seniors on Medicare to be determined based on the lower net price of the medication, rather than its higher list price, according to Rosen’s office.

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square