California is developing a long-sought statewide health information exchange for providers and payers to deliver better care for patients. The health information exchange, or HIE, has received little public attention. But it would cover 40 million people in California’s 58 counties, and would in part quickly inform emergency room doctors and nurses of a patient’s ...

Regional healthcare markets across the country have experienced significant divergence in commercial-to-Medicare price ratios between 2012 and 2019, causing insurers to pay wildly different rates to hospital systems. In areas like Chico, California and Tacoma, Washington, private payers saw hospital price ratios increase by over 100 percentage points. On the other end of the spectrum, ...

Private insurers who administer Medicare Advantage plans can expect a 5% average increase in federal payments next year — half a percentage point above what the Biden administration proposed in February. Why it matters: The pay bump in the controversial program marks a big win for insurers like UnitedHealth Group and Humana and doused speculation the ...

Senate Republicans and Democrats reached a deal Monday on $10 billion in additional Covid funding to buy therapeutics and vaccines and maintain the nation’s testing capacity if another Covid wave hits the U.S. The legislation earmarks at least $5 billion to purchase and develop Covid treatments such as antiviral pills. Another $750 million is set ...

Amid worries that the latest coronavirus variant could spark another rise in cases, Medicare announced Monday that millions of enrollees will finally have access to free over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at drug stores. More than 59 million people with Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient coverage will be able to get up to eight free at-home tests per month, or ...

“H.R. 2954 will help all Americans successfully save for a secure retirement by expanding coverage and increasing retirement savings, simplifying the current retirement system, and protecting Americans and their retirement accounts,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., ahead of the Tuesday vote.