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.

Educating Employers on the Tax Advantages of Offering Group Health Insurance

In your work with employers, it’s important to discuss the substantial tax advantages available to businesses when they offer health insurance benefits to employees. Not only can these benefits help attract and retain top talent, but they also provide significant financial incentives.

Read More

Shrinking Drug Coverage Puts Americans In A Medical (And Monetary) Bind

Paying more for less is a recurring theme for Americans these past few years, and it’s even true in health care, a new study shows. Health insurers are covering fewer drugs, putting more restrictions on their drug coverage, but still raising costs for consumers, prescription drug comparison site GoodRx found after reviewing more than 3,700 Medicare Part ...

Read More

Supreme Court Overturns Opioid Settlement With Purdue Pharma That Shielded Sacklers

After the Supreme Court struck down a controversial bankruptcy plan from Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, those who sued the drug company were left uncertain about when promised funds would be available to combat addiction and other damage from the ongoing drug epidemic. The ruling upended a carefully-crafted settlement worth roughly $8 billion, and involving the Sackler family, ...

Read More

Los Angeles County Approves Medical Debt Relief for Residents

Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to buy up and forgive millions of dollars in medical debt as part of a comprehensive plan to tackle a $2.9 billion burden that weighs on almost 800,000 residents. The measure, authored by supervisors Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell, allows the county to enter into a pilot program with Undue Medical Debt, ...

Read More

Smallest Businesses Feel Crush Of Health Care Costs

Employee health care costs are increasingly eating up larger shares of payroll costs for America’s smallest businesses, according to a new analysis from the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Why it matters: The pain of health care costs is nothing new. But this analysis, based on de-identified data from Chase business banking accounts, offers a more granular look at the disproportionate burden ...

Read More

ACA Preventive Care Mandate Still In Effect, Except For Firms That Sued: Court Ruling

An appeals court affirmed a lower court's ruling that HHS could not force Braidwood and other firms who challenged the ACA mandate to cover PrEP drugs for HIV, however, the nationwide ACA coverage mandate is still in effect.

Read More

Private Plans Cover More Americans: CDC

Employer-sponsored health plans and other private plans seem to be covering more Americans, but people with income over 400% of the federal poverty level are less likely to have any coverage.

Read More

Kaiser Permanente-Backed Risant Health Acquires Second Hospital System

Risant Health, the nonprofit entity created by Kaiser Permanente, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire North Carolina’s Cone Health, the nonprofit systems said Friday. Cone would be the second system to join Risant, subject to regulatory approval, following Geisinger Health earlier this year. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in ...

Read More

US Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To $2.7 Bln Blue Cross Settlement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a $2.7 billion nationwide class action settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield over allegations that the insurance giant overcharged commercial and individual subscribers for years. The justices without comment denied a petition from home improvement retailer Home Depot objecting to the landmark antitrust ...

Read More

Medicaid for Millions in America Hinges on Deloitte-Run Systems Plagued by Errors

(Editor’s Note: the KFF Health story identified California as having in excess of $500 million in Deloitte Medicaid contracts) Deloitte, a global consultancy that reported revenue last year of $65 billion, pulls in billions of dollars from states and the federal government for supplying technology it says will modernize Medicaid. The company promotes itself as the industry ...

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