The Biden administration has announced that more than 16.3 million people have chosen an Affordable Care Act Marketplace health plan during the enrollment period between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15. The enrollment is the largest since the Affordable Care Act Marketplace was created. "This year, the 10th year of ACA Open Enrollment, more Americans signed up for…

Four in 10 parents with children younger than 18 said they are "very" or "extremely" worried about anxiety or depression, Pew Research Center reported Tuesday. “Many parents worry that their children might struggle with mental health or be bullied at some point,” lead researcher Rachel Minkin said in an email.“ Concerns about challenges children may face vary…

The layoffs were small enough for Ascension Texas to not have to file paperwork with the Texas Workforce Commission. Ascension Texas, which includes Ascension Seton Central Texas hospitals and Ascension Providence in Waco, said: "The global COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant operational toll on health systems across the country, and Ascension Texas…

Bill Cassidy said the nation's mounting debt— which is putting programs like Social Security and Medicare at risk of going insolvent— has reached crisis mode. "In 11 years, there will not be enough money in the Social Security trust fund to pay out the scheduled benefits," Cassidy said. "It is President Biden's responsibility to address this issue.

But now, two of those heavyweight health systems— locally based UCHealth and Utah- based Intermountain Healthcare— have decided to… cooperate? And, not coincidentally, the systems announced that Intermountain's SelectHealth insurance plan will jump into the market in Colorado for Medicare consumers as well as people who buy insurance on their own.

I had dental insurance through my work for many years but lost it when I retired and joined Medicare. Unfortunately, about two-thirds of U.S. retirees don't have dental insurance today. Monthly premiums for individual plans range from about $20 to $80.

Not only is the program itself under-financed, unable to meet the demand for benefits during even a mild economic downturn, but the Employment Development Department that disburses those benefits has proven to be incompetent. Gray Davis, bowing to pressure from unions, sharply increased benefits but failed to increase payroll taxes on employers to pay for…

Jan. 19— UPDATE: Here are the latest updates on COVID in the Bay Area and California. As if more evidence were needed, a new study in The Lancet affirms that the "hybrid immunity" obtained by having been infected with the coronavirus and vaccinated against it provides the strongest and longest-lasting protection against severe outcomes. A plastic surgeon in Utah…

Elevance Health, Inc. and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana announced today that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement through which Elevance Health agrees to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. It will also accelerate BCBSLA’ s strategic evolution to improve access, affordability and quality of services delivered by…

In recent years, many Chicagoans may have forgotten about the spectacular rise and fall of Outcome Health and its founders. Three years after they were charged, the trial of former Outcome Health CEO Rishi Shah and former Outcome President Shradha Agarwal is set to begin this week in Chicago. Their company, Outcome Health, placed screens and tablets in doctors’…

Community Health System, which operates four local hospitals including Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno and Clovis Community Medical Center in Clovis, has reached an agreement with United Healthcare, one of three insurance providers whose contracts for in-network coverage expired at the end of 2022.. “We’ re pleased to have reached an…

In a recent online survey, hundreds of uninsured Florida residents were queried to get a better understanding of their awareness of health insurance and to learn why those who are uninsured do not have health insurance. Almost 70 percent of the people surveyed believed they can't afford health insurance, or it is simply too expensive.· Sixty five percent of…

In the latest twist in a long-running saga, a bill to change city law to allow the Adams administration to begin charging insurance premiums to retirees who opt not to move into a new Medicare Advantage plan appears to be dead. Adams may yet try to ax the original Medicare program to leave only the new one standing, though that’ s a less ideal solution to letting the…

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Through Oct. 31, Medicare had spent $2 billion on COVID-19 tests in 2022, an amount that will surpass 2021' s total as claims are filed, according to new data provided to ProPublica by CareSet, a research organization that works to make the health care system more transparent. That compares to $2…

At 330 pounds, Gregg Schenck had tried just about every diet by age 56.. He wanted to go to Disney World with her but worried about squeezing into an airline seat. Schenck is now one of the dozens of workers part of a health program focusing on a low-carb diet at Laitram, a Louisiana manufacturing company that got its start in 1947 with the first patent for a shrimp…

But with the federal government phasing out those payments, the Florida Department of Children and Families this year will begin reviewing the eligibility of almost 5 million recipients, with the remainder addressed by other state and federal agencies. The first to be reviewed will be recipients whose most recent income data showed they were no longer…

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Through Oct. 31, Medicare had spent $2 billion on COVID-19 tests in 2022, an amount that will surpass 2021' s total as claims are filed, according to new data provided to ProPublica by CareSet, a research organization that works to make the health care system more transparent. That compares to $2…

Regarding The Herald's coverage of the disagreement between Everett Clinic and Regence's Medicare Advantage plans, whenever the profit motive enters the equation, the patient is always the one that suffers. For-profit corporations exist for one reason: to make as much profit as possible. There are two ways to do this: Charge as much as you can for the product…

In her early 20 s, Karisa Hunt learned the hard lesson of what happens when someone rations life-preserving medication. Once she was out of college and on her own health insurance plan, Hunt couldn't afford the $400 monthly copay. Still, it cost her a doable $75 a month.