The hospital lobby is petitioning President Donald Trump to grant carve-outs for medical devices and pharmaceutical products to the tariffs his administration has enacted, or may soon enact, on Mexico, Canada and China. In a letter sent Tuesday, the American Hospital Association (AHA) told the president that the country’s hospitals “stand with you” on the ...

Moody’s Ratings is downgrading the insurance industry’s credit outlook to negative as elevated medical costs continue to batter payers. Moody’s analysts noted in a report that spending in the commercial market alone is set to increase by 8% this year, the fastest rate recorded in 13 years. Spending in the individual market, meanwhile, is set ...

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he secured significant concessions from the Trump administration on vaccine safety that led to his vote Tuesday morning to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Cassidy voted with all other Finance Committee Republicans on Tuesday to advance Kennedy’s nomination to the floor. ...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary, moved closer to securing the job on Tuesday, winning approval from a key Republican senator and a recommendation from the Finance Committee to advance him to a full Senate vote as soon as this week. The Republican-led committee voted 14-13 along party lines with ...

A November 2024 proposal by the Biden administration that would allow Medicare and require Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) to provide coverage for weight loss drugs could be in jeopardy. Until now, Medicare has been prohibited from paying for weight loss medications unless they are prescribed for treatment of diabetes or to manage a patient’s increased ...

Stop-loss insurance costs spiked at Cigna in the fourth quarter, and that will lead to price increases for employers renewing their coverage. Company executives talked about the coming wave of stop-loss increases Thursday, during a conference call with securities analysts. Brian Evanko, the company’s chief financial officer, said the main drivers of the spike were ...