The window is closing for congressional leaders to avert the double-digit premium hikes that are set to hit 8 million Medicare enrollees next year. Congress has only a handful of weeks to prevent the 52 percent premium hikes — the largest in the program’s history — that will harm seniors and drain state budgets. And with ...
When Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of an older generic drug by more than 5,000 percent last month, the move sparked a public outcry. How, critics wondered, could a firm charge $13.50 a pill for a treatment for a parasitic infection one day and $750 the next? The criticism led Turing’s unapologetic CEO to say ...
Health insurer Aetna’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of smaller rival Humana Inc was approved by the shareholders of both companies. The companies continue to expect the deal to close in the second half of 2016, they said in separate statements on Monday. Aetna in July said it would buy Humana to become the largest provider ...
Blue Shield of California has agreed to limit its premiums for certain policies next year and in 2017, Payers & Providers reports. Background On Oct. 5, the California Department of Managed Health Careissued an order addressing Blue Shield’s premiums and medical loss ratio calculations. DMHC spokesperson Rodger Butler said the agency had “significant concerns with ...
WASHINGTON — In a surprisingly pessimistic forecast, the Obama administration predicted on Thursday that health insurance enrollment on the Affordable Care Act’s public marketplaces will only inch up from current coverage levels by the end of 2016. After an elaborate analysis of demographic data, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, said ...
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones slammed Aetna Thursday for an “unreasonable” quarterly rate hike on small-business owners that brings the annual average increase to more than 27 percent. The hike affects small employers that renew their health insurance policies in the fourth quarter — and an estimated 40,000 employees. Dept. of Insurance actuaries reviewed Aetna’s ...