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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.

What The Shutdown Means For Medicare, Medicaid And Other Health Programs

Core programs will keep running because their funding is built into law. But a popular Medicare benefit has already ended, and local health centers may be at risk unless Congress acts soon.

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Health Centers Face Risks as Government Funding Lapses

About 1,500 federally funded health centers that serve millions of low-income people face significant financial challenges, their leaders say, as the government shutdown compounds other cuts to their revenue. Some of these community health centers may have to cut medical and administrative staff or reduce services. Some could eventually close. The result, their advocates warn, ...

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Costco To Sell Ozempic, Wegovy For $499 A Month

Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced Friday that Costco will begin selling monthly supplies of Ozempic and Wegovy for $499 to uninsured members. The discounted price comes as more Americans have become aware of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, which have become increasingly popular as people have touted body transformations and health benefits. The popularity of the medications amid ...

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Federal Government Shutdown Begins, With No Easy Exit In Sight

The federal government started shutting down early Wednesday after Congress failed to approve a funding bill before the beginning of the new fiscal year — resulting in widespread ramifications for hundreds of programs and giving the Trump administration an avenue to fire federal workers en masse.

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How The Shutdown Impacts Healthcare: CMS Pauses Some Telehealth Claims As Pandemic-Era Flexibilities Lapse

CMS issues guidance calling quits on expanded telehealth flexibilities On day one of the government shutdown, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent out a Medicare Learning Network Connects Newsletter offering guidance on Medicare billing and telehealth services during the lapse in appropriations. The CMS reaffirmed in the guidance that pandemic-era expanded telehealth ...

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A Look At Insurers’ Medicare Advantage Plans For 2026

While enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) grew to include 50% of all Medicare eligibles in 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is projecting a decline for the 2026 plan year.

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No Funding Deal In Sight Following High-Stakes White House Negotiations, Party Leaders Say

President Donald Trump and congressional leaders from both parties exited a high-stakes negotiation meeting Monday afternoon with little optimism a deal could be struck before the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown. “I think we’re heading to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President J.D. Vance told ...

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Trump Announces Deal With Pfizer To Lower Drug Prices

President Trump on Tuesday announced that Pfizer had agreed to sell its products in the U.S. at “Most Favored Nation” pricing, one day after the administration required companies to respond to his prescription drug pricing executive order. Drugmakers were given until Sept. 29 to respond to Trump’s “Most Favored Nation” Executive Order that required companies ...

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What To Know About Trump’s New Pharmaceutical Tariff Plan

In announcing that branded or patented drugs would be hit with 100 percent tariffs on Oct. 1, Trump also said drugmakers could escape the penalties if they have a U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing plant for which ground has been broken, or is currently under construction.

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Weight-Loss Drugs Can Cut Future Health Costs. The Fight Is Over Who Pays Now.

Millions of Americans who could benefit from GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are caught in the middle of a battle between drug companies and insurers over their costs, leaving them without coverage even as evidence mounts that the drugs could stave off expensive health complications in the future. Insurance coverage for the drugs has barely budged in the ...

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