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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.

Sun Life Sees U.S. Medical Stop-Loss Market Stabilizing

U.S. medical stop-loss insurance prices may increase in 2025 because some players have been charging too little for coverage in recent years, according to an executive at Sun Life Financial's U.S. business.

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White House Says Prescription Drug Deals Will Produce Billions In Savings for Taxpayers, Seniors

Taxpayers are expected to save billions after the Biden administration inked deals with pharmaceutical companies to knock down the lists prices for 10 of Medicare’s costliest drugs. But how much older Americans can expect to save when they fill a prescription at their local pharmacy remains unclear, since the list cost isn’t the final price people ...

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CVS Defeat Shows Quiet Ways Drug Middlemen Try to Influence Care

A recent court defeat for CVS Health Corp. is shining a light on how health-care corporations wield their financial might over doctors and pharmacies in ways that can put profits over patient care. With more than a dozen similar cases still pending in private arbitration, the pharmacy giant has millions of dollars on the line. The most ...

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Harris-Walz Ticket Sharpens Contrast With Trump-Vance on Health Care

Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate is making health care a front-burner issue in the final sprint to the November presidential election. Walz, a 60-year-old former high school teacher and football coach, has a record of supporting left-leaning health care initiatives during his two terms as governor ...

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Biden Administration Still Has Mental Parity Regs In Pipeline

The Biden administration has already completed most of the health benefits regulatory projects on its to-do lists, but it’s still polishing a major set of behavioral health regulations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Internal Revenue Service are completing an update to the regulations implementing the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, ...

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Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co. Vows Total Transparency To Shatter Drug Prices

Mark Cuban, the founder of Cost Plus Drug Co., remains committed to disrupting the U.S. health care system to make it more affordable for consumers. “Prior to us, there was no transparency whatsoever, and so nobody knew what the price of any medication was,” the entrepreneur and investor said during an appearance on The Daily Show. ...

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FDA May Greenlight Updated COVID-19 Vaccines As Soon As This Week, Sources Say

The US Food and Drug Administration is poised to sign off as soon as this week on updated Covid-19 vaccines targeting more recently circulating strains of the virus, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as the country experiences its largest summer wave in two years. The agency is expected to greenlight updated mRNA vaccines from ...

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Inflation, Weight Loss Drugs Drive ACA Premiums Higher

Premiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans will increase 7% on average across 324 insurers next year. This increase is on par with premium increases for 2024, according to Peterson-KFF's Health System Tracker.

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Only Half Of Gen Z Understands Basic Insurance Terms, Study Finds

Although more than one-third of Gen Z adults pay for a cellphone protection plan, only 21% have a renters insurance policy. This discrepancy points to a need for better education about risk and why having the right insurance coverage matters.

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Republicans Challenge CMS Premium Stabilization Program Legality

Leading Republicans are looking toward the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to ensure CMS’ new premium stabilization demonstration program is legal and in the best interest of seniors. In a recent letter written by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-ID, and House Ways and ...

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