Just over half of the total U.S. population receives health insurance through commercial plans that are offered by employers or purchased by individuals. In recent years, commercial health insurers’ per-person spending on hospitals’ and physicians’ services has grown more quickly than analogous spending by the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program, according to analysis by the Congressional ...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom defended himself on Monday amid outrage over a maskless photo he took Sunday with basketball legend Magic Johnson at an NFL playoff game in Los Angeles where all spectators were required to wear masks. “I was trying to be gracious, and I made a mist — you know, I mean, I ...

AHIP, the top lobbying organization for commercial insurers, is warning the feds that provisions in its proposed rule governing the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges for 2023 could “undermine” the growing stability there. For instance, the group says in comments (PDF) submitted late Thursday that potential changes to requirements for essential health benefits would limit the ability for ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to again require employers to provide workers with up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to recover from COVID-19 or care for a family member with the virus. The legislation, which lawmakers would likely fast-track to the governor in the coming weeks, would ...

Proposed changes to a CMS program that shifts funds to insurers that attract higher-risk consumers, intended to boost plan enrollment by lowering some premiums, could have the opposite effect and should be abandoned, researchers from the Brookings Institution and the University of Southern California argue in a new analysis. The CMS risk adjustment program established under ...

The Biden administration is withdrawing its Covid vaccination-or-test requirement for large employers, citing the Supreme Court’s recent decision to block the rule. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, said Tuesday that the withdrawal of the emergency mandate would be effective Wednesday. The Supreme Court this month blocked the mandate, which required larger businesses to ensure that ...