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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.

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 ...

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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 ...

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Mark Cuban’s D2C Pharmacy Won’t Beat Most Insured Patients’ Out Of Pocket Drug Prices, One Study Finds

Insured patients are often better off buying their generic prescriptions through their health insurance benefits than through Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, though those without insurance could find cost savings in over a quarter of their pharmacy fills, according to a study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum. Across a sample of nearly 844 ...

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Uninsured Rate To Rise To 8.9% By 2034, CBO Finds

The percentage of Americans who lack health insurance, which currently hovers around 7.2%, is projected to rise steadily through the years, hitting 8.9% by 2034, according to the latest data presented by the Congressional Budget Office.

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Drug Patent Bill Could Cut The Federal Deficit By $3B, Analysts Predict

CBO analysts reported last week that the new version of the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act bill could cut spending by $2.4 billion over the period from 2024 through 2034 and increase federal revenue by $585 million over that same period.

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Half Of U.S. Workers Financially Unprepared For Unexpected Medical Event

Many U.S. employees are experiencing “financial fragility,” according to the “2023-2024 Aflac WorkForces Report,” which examines employer and employee benefits trends and attitudes. The survey of 1,200 employers and 2,000 employees revealed that a full 50% of workers say they would not be able to afford more than $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for an unexpected medical event. ...

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CalPERS Enters Into Contracts With Blue Shield Of California, Included Health

Blue Shield of California will partner with Included Health to provide support and service to about 400,000 CalPERS PPO members.

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Nation’s Health Care Tab Projected To Hit Nearly $8 Trillion In A Decade

Growing demand for care, record levels of insured patients and swelling Medicare enrollment will drive up annual health care spending to $7.7 trillion by 2032, up from $4.8 trillion last year, according to new projections from federal actuaries.

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Amazon Pharmacy Expands RxPass Subscription Service To Medicare Patients

Amazon Pharmacy is expanding its prescription drug subscription program, called RxPass, to Prime members on Medicare insurance. The RxPass program, launched in January 2023, provides unlimited access to 60 eligible generic medications and will ship the medications to customers’ homes for a flat monthly fee of $5, along with 24/7 access to a pharmacist, according to the ...

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Uninsured Americans Dropped by One-Quarter Over Five Years

The number of Americans without health insurance dropped by about a fourth from 2019 to 2023, US health researchers said, as the government tried to bolster coverage during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, 25 million Americans of all ages were uninsured, down from 33.2 million in 2019, according to preliminary survey results released Tuesday by ...

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