U.S. healthcare spending skyrocketed in 2020 as the federal government invested significantly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS’ Office of the Actuary released its annual report on health expenditures, which found spending increased by 9.7% in 2020 to reach $4.2 trillion. ...

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday that there will be “no need” to shut down the U.S. economy “in any way,” adding that the country has the tools necessary to fight the Omicron variant. The big picture: There is an increase of coronavirus cases, driven by the Delta variant, across the country, and CDC ...

The omicron variant infects around 70 times faster than delta and the original Covid-19 strain, though the severity of illness is likely to be much lower, according to a University of Hong Kong study that adds weight to the early on-ground observations from South African doctors. The supercharged speed of omicron’s spread in the human bronchus was ...

Faced with rising coronavirus cases and growing concerns about the Omicron variant, California is ordering a statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces to go into effect on Wednesday.

Word & Brown General Agency, an Orange-based provider of insurance and health benefit brokers with more than 500 employees, named current President Jessica Word as its new chief executive.

Employer health insurance costs spiked in 2021, and it remains unclear if this is a one-off course correction or the beginning of a new trend, according to a new Mercer survey.