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.
Rising health care costs have climbed from the sixth-largest employer concern in 2021 to the top concern in 2026, according to a new report from benefits platform Espresa, underscoring the growing pressure organizations face as prescription drug spending continues to accelerate. The company’s 2026 Lifestyle Spending Account Benchmark and Trends Report found that 64% of ...
Nevada hospitals and health clinics say drug manufacturers are restricting the number of pharmacies in the state that can participate in a federal discount drug program. The limitations put in place by drug companies make it harder for patients to refill prescriptions at reduced rates, and they affect a revenue stream hospitals rely on to ...
The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be. The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or, in more severe ...
Newly released state enrollment data show ObamaCare coverage losses could be even more severe than initially anticipated, due to Congress’s unwillingness to renew enhanced subsidies. Monthly enrollment data through April from Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York showed a significant number of people canceled their coverage or did not pay their premium bills after signing up for coverage in 2026, according to an analysis from Georgetown University. Federal officials have so far only released data ...
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.6 points in May to 95.3, remaining below its 52-year average of 98.0. The Uncertainty Index rose 3 points from April to 91, remaining well above its historical average of 68. As reported in NFIB’s monthly Jobs Report, the NFIB Small Business Employment Index remained essentially flat, registering 100.3 in May. ...
President Trump on Friday announced that over 100 prescription medications would be added to his administration’s direct-to-consumer drug platform, TrumpRx, the second expansion of the initiative in as many months. “I am pleased to announce that TrumpRx.gov is adding another 160 Prescription Drugs, at highly discounted prices, for a new total of over 800 of the most commonly-used Prescription Drugs,” ...
GLP-1 drugs are a double-edged sword for the nation’s employers. Although they are having a demonstrable effect on workplace health, the high cost is putting a strain on their budgets. GLP-1s, known by brand names such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound, originally were developed to help regulate blood sugar in people with Type 2 ...
A Trump administration initiative to impose $100,000 fees on employers seeking visas for skilled foreign workers amounts to an unlawful tax on those companies and must be voided “in its entirety,” a federal judge ruled on Monday. The decision by Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts nullified ...
Having a baby in the United States is about to get more complicated. Under new billing codes that take effect in January, doctors who manage maternity care will start charging à la carte for visits and services related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. It’s an about-face from recent years, when doctors have often received ...
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous ruling Thursday that could help increase the number of generic drugs available in the United States. The court ruled in favor of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, a company that wants to sell a generic version of Vascepa, a brand-name drug from Amarin Pharmaceuticals, using a “skinny label” government drug approval label. ...