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.
House members got their first opportunity Thursday to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days with back-to-back hearings in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees. In the two appearances, his first before Congress in 2026, Kennedy defended his record in leading the nation’s health agency as Democrats sought to push back ...
Employers, lawmakers, providers and more said the Department of Labor should quickly finalize disclosure mandates for the controversial drug middlemen.
UnitedHealthcare said it’s going to eliminate most requirements for prior authorization for medical care for about 1,500 rural hospitals and their affiliated health care providers by this fall. The change will affect all of the small, isolated rural hospitals classified as “critical access hospitals.” In January, the United States had 1,381 critical access hospitals, according ...
The system of paying Medicare agents and brokers more money if they enroll someone in a Medicare Advantage plan rather than traditional Medicare with a supplement plan needs to be changed, according to several members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). “The broker compensation piece really frustrates me,” MedPAC member Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, of ...
President Donald Trump announced Thursday Erica Schwartz, M.D., as his nominee to fill the long-vacant role of director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Schwartz, who also has a law degree and a master’s of public health, previously served as deputy surgeon general during the president’s first term. She is a Navy officer ...
The Trump administration is bringing on a new official to focus on health care affordability, the Department of Health and Human Services tells Axios. Why it matters: The personnel move suggests the administration is attempting to respond to voters’ concerns about health care costs ahead of the midterm elections. Driving the news: HHS has appointed Casey Mulligan as ...
Higher health insurance costs are forcing some people to walk away from coverage even after signing up. About 14% of people who enrolled in Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans for 2026 did not pay their first monthly premium, according to a new analysis from Wakely Consulting Group, an actuarial firm. That’s much higher than the ...
In his first appearance on Capitol Hill this year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his record in running the Department of Health and Human Services. On Thursday, Kennedy testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, playing up his agency’s accomplishments on a range of issues — from drug price negotiations to the ...
Artificial intelligence-driven chatbots are giving users problematic medical advice about half the time, according to a new study, highlighting the health risks of the technology that’s becoming increasingly integral in day-to-day life. Researchers from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom evaluated five popular platforms — ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, Grok and DeepSeek — ...
Few statewide elections stand to matter more this year than the race for insurance commissioner — the primary official tasked with stemming a wildfire-stoked home insurance crisis that has sent rates soaring across California. The insurance commissioner leads the state agency that approves rate hikes for home and auto plans, investigates complaints about providers and enforces ...