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.
Two years into the grand experiment of setting up Nevada’s first health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act, the state is banking on one hard-earned prize after surviving its tumultuous launch: normalcy. The switch to a hybrid health exchange last year paid off for the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange in the form of ...
When the health insurance marketplaces open on Sunday, consumers shopping for 2016 coverage may encounter steeper premium increases than last year and more plans that offer no out-of-network coverage. According to an analysis released Monday evening by the Health and Human Services Department, the cost of the second-lowest silver plan in states using the federal ...
Premiums are expected to rise in many parts of the country as a new sign-up season under President Barack Obama’s health care law starts Nov. 1. But consumers have options if they shop around, and an upgraded government website will help them compare. Consumers can see their own premiums for 2016 starting Sunday night on ...
A pharmaceutical firm’s recent decision to hike the cost of a prescription drug that treats foodborne illness from $18 to $750 per tablet outraged millions of Americans. The move prompted Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to accuse the Swiss-American company Turing of “price gouging.” The following day, Clinton unveiled her national plan to rein in ...
Heading into Obamacare’s third open enrollment starting Nov. 1, uninsured Californians know more about the stick of federal tax penalties than the carrot of premium subsidies. Officials at the Covered California exchange say that’s a problem because consumers regularly cite high costs as the reason they don’t sign up. Survey data released Thursday show that ...
California made national news last week when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to patients who are terminally ill and want to die. But many quieter bills also will change health care in the state. The first half of the 2015-2016 legislative session ended last weekend ...
Consumers Union wants the Medical Board of California to require doctors who are on probation to notify their patients. The policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports filed a petition last week urging the board to take action. The board is expected to hold a public hearing on the issue at its Oct. 30 meeting ...
An analysis of narrow networks on the Covered California health plan marketplace found that in most cases consumers don’t need to worry that they are trading quality of care for lower costs. While Covered California plans did offer narrower hospital networks, there was no significant relationship between raw network size and performance, according to the ...
Health insurer Aetna’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of smaller rival Humana Inc was approved by the shareholders of both companies. The companies continue to expect the deal to close in the second half of 2016, they said in separate statements on Monday. Aetna in July said it would buy Humana to become the largest provider ...
Blue Shield of California has agreed to limit its premiums for certain policies next year and in 2017, Payers & Providers reports. Background On Oct. 5, the California Department of Managed Health Careissued an order addressing Blue Shield’s premiums and medical loss ratio calculations. DMHC spokesperson Rodger Butler said the agency had “significant concerns with ...