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.
The Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, surpassed its target of finding $880 billion in savings to help pay for legislation to extend President Trump’s tax cuts and other priorities, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In a brief letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the CBO said the committee’s reconciliation ...
States and health insurers received new guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) May 2 on how to prepare should Congress fund cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments or extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credit subsidies. One notice (PDF) suggests Congress could choose to appropriate funds toward CSR payments, which would be a ...
According to an AMA policy report on health spending trends, health care spending grew by 7.5% in 2023, significantly above growth rates of 4.6% in 2022, 4.2% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2019.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty will step down from his role at the top of the company due to personal reasons, the healthcare giant announced Tuesday morning. Stephen Hemsley, who previously held the CEO title from 2006 to 2017, will succeed him. The change is effective immediately, according to the announcement. Hemsley will also remain as ...
“We oppose taxing health benefits,” said Neil Trautwein, P4ESC’s Executive Director. “Policymakers will find how widely unpopular the idea will be with Americans with this type of coverage if they take this unwise step,” added Trautwein.
In multiple instances over the past few weeks, Social Security Offices have seen people come in for whom “there is no information on the record, just that they are dead.” So employees have to “resurrect” them — affirm that they’re living, so they can receive their benefits.
Americans spent $98 billion out of pocket on prescription drugs in 2024, marking a cumulative 25% increase over five years, according to an annual report from analytics firm IQVIA. Why it matters: Lowering prescription drug costs remains a priority for both Democrats and Republicans. The Biden administration led Congress in passing a landmark legislative package to negotiate select drug ...
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that aims to reduce the time it takes to approve pharmaceutical plants in the country, as part of new regulations to encourage domestic manufacturing. The order directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to streamline reviews and work with domestic manufacturers to provide early support ...
California is one of several states that will be dramatically affected if Congress takes no action to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies authorized as part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and extended through 2025 by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The enhanced subsidies reduce the premium for eligible ...
The country’s top nonpartisan government watchdog has confirmed it is examining the costs of running the nation’s only active Medicaid work requirement program, as Republican state and federal lawmakers consider similar requirements. The U.S. Government Accountability Office told KFF Health News that its analysis of the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program could be released this ...