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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.

Study Finds Medical Debt Relief Doesn’t Always Work

A first-of-its-kind study from Stanford economist Neale Mahoney finds that efforts to help low-income Americans by buying up their medical debt aren’t going as planned.

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After Public Push, CMS Curbs Health Insurance Agents’ Access to Consumer SSNs

Until last week, the system that is used to enroll people in federal Affordable Care Act insurance plans inadvertently allowed access by insurance brokers to consumers’ full Social Security numbers, information brokers don’t need.

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Change Healthcare Faces Second Ransomware Dilemma Weeks After ALPHV Attack

Change Healthcare is allegedly being extorted by a second ransomware gang, mere weeks after recovering from an ALPHV attack. RansomHub claimed responsibility for attacking Change Healthcare in the last few hours, saying it had 4 TB of the company’s data containing personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to active US military personnel and other patients, medical ...

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The Database You Don’t Want To Need: Check To See If Your Health Data Was Hacked

More than 144 million Americans’ medical information was stolen or exposed last year in a record-breaking number of health care data breaches, a USA TODAY analysis of Health and Human Services data found. After breaking records in 2023, the most significant breach hit in February when a ransomware attack targeted Change Healthcare, the nation’s largest health care ...

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What Happens If Medical Records Are Stolen? As Breaches Become More Common, Be In The Know

Health care data breaches soared to record-breaking levels in 2023, fueled by a surge in ransomware attacks and increased targeting of the third-party vendors hospitals and other health care providers use. Exposure of protected health information and personally identifiable information can put patients at risk of identity theft or insurance fraud. “Be careful not to share ...

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Oakland Athletics Playing Ball At Sutter Health Park In 2025-2027, A New Milestone For Health System Sports Deals

Sacramento, California-based Sutter Health is getting called up to the big leagues next summer when the Oakland Athletics take up residence at a minor league park bearing its name. The team’s owner announced Thursday that the A’s will call Sutter Health Park home for the 2025-27 MLB seasons. The team is playing out its last ...

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28% Of Workers Have $0 Saved For Retirement: Employers, Tailor Your Messaging

Employers spend a lot of money and time offering robust benefits packages, but it's not enough to simply offer a retirement benefit — they must understand what will work best for employees, recommends GoBankingRates.

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Aetna, Other Insurers Will Start Covering Weight Loss Drug Wegovy For Heart Conditions

Aetna, Elevance Health and Kaiser Permanente will cover Wegovy to reduce heart attack risk in Medicare patients with heart conditions, following the FDA's approval of the drug to reduce stroke or heart attack risk in March.

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Rising Complaints of Unauthorized Obamacare Plan-Switching and Sign-Ups Trigger Concern

Federal and state regulators aren’t doing enough to stop the growing problem of rogue health insurance brokers making unauthorized policy switches for Affordable Care Act policyholders, say consumers, agents, nonprofit enrollee assistance groups, and other insurance experts. “We think it’s urgent and it requires a lot more attention and resources,” said Jennifer Sullivan, director of ...

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California Democrats Seek $1.5 Billion For Low-Income Health Care. GOP Wants Answers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers are trying to find a way to fund Medi-Cal and other promised safety net programs while dealing with a projected deficit of $38 billion to $73 billion.

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