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.

Congress Targets PBMs To Curb Drug Prices, End Spread Pricing Practices

The House is renewing a push to take on pharmacy benefit managers that play an important role in the cost of prescription drugs that has been heavily scrutinized by lawmakers amid industry consolidation and rising prices. A subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing on Wednesday focused on possible legislative solutions ...

Read More

A New Era Of Made In America Drug Manufacturing

Last week, President Trump threatened tariffs on pharmaceuticals if manufacturers don’t relocate operations to the U.S. On Wednesday, the CEO of Eli Lilly stood with Trump’s commerce secretary in Washington, D.C., to announce a $27 billion plan to build four manufacturing “mega-sites” in the U.S. Why it matters: The commitment illustrates the dance much of Big Pharma is ...

Read More

House May Hurry To Lock In The Current HSA Preventive Care Coverage Rules

Members of the U.S. House are rushing to update the federal law that governs preventive benefits coverage for people with health savings accounts. House leaders have put a bipartisan HSA preventive benefits bill, the Chronic Disease Flexible Coverage Act bill, on a list of items that could come to the House floor this week “under ...

Read More

As Measles Outbreak Grows, HHS Secretary Says Vaccination Is A Personal Decision That Can Protect Individuals And Communities

As a measles outbreak in Texas has grown to nearly 150 cases, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an opinion piece on Fox News on Sunday that parents should consult with health-care providers “to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine” for their children. Kennedy did not explicitly recommend the ...

Read More

Blue Shield Of California Drops CVS, Taps Amazon: What’s Behind The PBM Shakeup

As lawmakers scrutinize the nation's pharmacy benefit managers, the California insurer expects to save $500 million in annual drug costs by replacing most of CVS Health's PBM services by January 2025.

Read More

Trump Admin Defends IRA Drug Price Negotiation Program In Novartis Lawsuit

The Trump administration, perhaps surprisingly, chose to defend the legality of the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA’s) drug price negotiation program enacted under President Joe Biden. In a filing Feb. 19, the government agreed with the legal arguments used by the prior administration and by a lower court, dealing a blow to pharmaceutical drugmakers enraged by the program. ...

Read More

BCBSA Report: Addressing Hospital, Pharma Costs Could Save $1T Over Next Decade

The federal government under the Trump administration has turned its focus to cutting costs, and a new report from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association highlights policy efforts it says could save nearly $1 trillion in healthcare costs over the next decade. The road map includes 10 policy proposals for stakeholders to consider, and BCBSA said these ...

Read More

With RFK Jr. in Charge, Supplement Makers See Chance To Cash In

Last fall, before being named the senior U.S. health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration would liberate Americans from the FDA’s “aggressive suppression” of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances — ending the federal agency’s “war on public health,” as he put it. In fact, the FDA can’t even require that supplements ...

Read More

FDA Rehires Staff To Its Medical Devices Division After Mass Layoffs

Around 180 FDA medical device workers were laid off this month by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

Read More

Sutter Health Investing $1B To Build New California Hospital, Expand Ambulatory Care Services

Sutter Health will invest $1 billion to expand its services across Northern California’s East Bay region, including a new flagship campus in Emeryville. The health system announced Wednesday that the campus will feature a new medical center with up to 200 beds as well as a regional destination for ambulatory care. The plans also leave ...

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