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U.S. Study Reveals Gaps In Chronic Care Needs And Experiences

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New research has shed light on a longstanding healthcare system challenge that affects more than 1 in 3 Americans: Health outcomes are not improving for those with complex, chronic health concerns, even though they see their doctor frequently and take multiple medications.

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According to a new LIMRA study, an equal percentage (30%) of employers ranked costs and benefit features as the top factor when choosing a carrier.

America’s Health Insurance Plans is the latest organization to cancel events due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Surprise medical billing is a source of anger and frustration to consumers. Now, two House committees are releasing their proposals to protect consumers from the practice.

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The National Institute of Mental Health reports that men are less likely than women to talk about, recognize, or seek treatment. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 43 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the pandemic began, which may play out differently for women than men. An April 2020 Harvard Business Review article…

Covered California initially responded to the COVID-19 emergency by opening the health insurance exchange to any eligible uninsured individuals who needed health care coverage from March 20 to June 30, which was then extended to July 31. Those who sign up through CoveredCA.com may find out that they are eligible for no-cost or low-cost coverage through…

House Democrats said the Affordable Care Act will be just fine without the individual mandate. That was one contention made in a Supreme Court brief filed to support the Affordable Care Act against a lawsuit, backed by the Trump administration, that would overturn the 2010 law.

TALLAHASSEE– Florida set a new, single-day record Tuesday with 186 deaths from COVID-19 as the state affirmed its place as the nation's latest epicenter of the pandemic. Florida now tops the earliest hot spot– New York– for cases. Florida health officials Tuesday reported 9,240 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 441,977. The death toll climbed to 6,117…

DocASAP, the industry’s most advanced patient access and engagement platform for health systems, health plans and physician groups, today announced the results of its“ Telehealth Consumer Experience” 2020 survey. The survey, conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by DocASAP, provides an inside look at healthcare consumers’ concerns and experiences during…

Public health experts agree: California needs to do far more coronavirus testing, especially among people without any symptoms, before offices, schools and more businesses can safely reopen. Gavin Newsom said Friday, pointing to pooled testing as a solution. Universities and health systems across the state, from UCLA and Kaiser to Stanford and Sutter, are…

At that moment, we didn’t have the luxury of knowing when we might meet in person, or talk strategy over dinner, or connect at an upcoming group conference. We all seemed to echo a similar desire to push the group industry forward with a better customer experience and eliminating the bottlenecks that hold back growth.

President Donald Trump signed four executive orders Friday aimed at lowering prescription drug prices for consumers, including allowing the importation of drugs from other nations.

Roughly 2,000 furloughed workers of MotorCity Casino Hotel are poised to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance on Aug. 1 as all three Detroit casinos remain closed under Gov. The Detroit casinos shut down March 16 as the coronavirus pandemic hit. Although some of the 24 tribal casinos within Michigan have since reopened, the governor hasn't given…

BOSTON- New House tele-health legislation aims to incorporate lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic into the state's health care system, according to Majority Leader Ron Mariano, who said he expects representatives to vote on the bill this week. The bill is a Health Care Financing Committee redraft of legislation the Senate passed in late June, which sought to…

Jul. 22– The Connecticut General Assembly's Insurance and Real Estate Committee held a virtual listening session Tuesday to deliberate two bills it has drafted for a special session this month. Scanlon added that Connecticut's bill is the most progressive in the country, as it proposes to cap the monthly cost of insulin prescriptions at $25.

That figure was estimated in a recent National Center for Coverage Innovation report, which explained the number of those without health insurance in Michigan rose from 485,000 in 2018 to 707,000 or 46% during the pandemic. Although it may be difficult to exactly calculate how many Michiganders are uninsured as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, a…

She called the rising case numbers a “category five-level emergency bearing down on millions of older adults in Florida and across the United States,” and urged Congress to reject President Donald Trump's call to block funding for states that invest in more testing and contact tracing. Of the 5,072 deaths in Florida, 2,400 had been residents or staff at…

Jul. 20– California's pension fund for teachers missed its investment target for the last fiscal year, reflecting a global market downturn brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. The California State Teachers' Retirement System on Monday reported a 3.9% return on investments in the fiscal year that ended June 30, falling short of its 7% goal.

Jul. 20– California joined a lawsuit with 22 other states against the Trump administration on Monday seeking to protect anti-discrimination language in the Affordable Care Act that the White House last month moved to eliminate. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra at a press conference warned that the Trump administration's policy change could…

As businesses have had to adapt their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employee duties also may have changed. Some of business owners’ prior concerns are still there, of course, but possibly heightened or altered. Those concerns might include questions about what would happen if the virus infected an owner.

Golden Rule, the UnitedHealthcare subsidiary that sold the patient both policies, refused to pay. The situation brings up a big shortcoming in relying on the short-term plans being pushed by the Trump administration as a cheaper alternative to Affordable Care Act benefits, according to a new 197- page report from the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy…

Long-term care homes are sounding the alarm of a potential new wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in light of major spikes in overall cases in California and other states. The American Health Care Associationand National Center for Assisted Livingwarned Gov. “Given the fact that the level of COVID in the community surrounding a nursing home is a leading indicator of…

More than 10 million people could lose health insurance due to a pandemic-related job loss by the end of the year, but many will regain coverage by other means, according to new analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data. Roughly 3.3 million will lose insurance entirely, one report concluded.

Jul. 15– Healthcare for Missouri may be driving to a neighborhood near you with its Medicaid Ambulance Response Vehicle, which has covered 8,000 miles since May pushing for the Medicaid expansion proposal that will be on the Aug. 4 election ballot. Missouri's Medicaid program currently doesn't cover most adults without children and has one of the nation's…

Employers — many who are dealing with the potential of lower revenue and managing remote work arrangements and the uncertainty of when things will return to normal — may choose to delay or cancel plans to put their defined contribution (DC) plans out to bid. This would significantly impact DC plan sales in 2020.

“While majorities of women, Democrats, Northeasterners, and those with annual household incomes under $36,000 say they always use masks outside their homes, their counterparts do so less often,” wrote Megan Brenan, Gallup research consultant. The one exception is Republicans, among whom a majority say they wear masks infrequently— either sometimes, rarely, or…

Marco Antonio Chavez, a 40- year-old who now lives in Brownsville, Texas, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $783,000, according to federal prosecutors. Chavez's license to practice medicine in California was suspended in May 2018, and is set to be revoked later this month. “He swindled more than $783,000 from…

Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those who enroll by Wednesday will have coverage beginning July 1. “We cannot predict what the coming months will bring.,” said Michele Eberle, executive director of Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which oversees the online marketplace.“ We want everyone to get covered and…

COVID-19 has impacted the U.S. particularly hard, with a higher number of confirmed cases than anywhere else in the world and a higher mortality rate than many less-developed nations. Our U.S. health care financing is a clumsy mixture of public, private and employer-based insurance. Our number of uninsured was much too high before COVID-19, but now it has reached…

–Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its latest Pension Funding Index, which analyzes the 100 largest U.S. corporate pension plans. Despite solid investment returns, June’s PFI funded status worsened by $6 billion due to an 11 basis point drop in the monthly discount rate, from 2.76% in May to 2.65% for June.

“It makes contact tracing almost useless,” Crystal R. Watson of Johns Hopkins University told The Washington Post. “Testing is the foundation on which the response is built,” Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and professor at University of California, Irvine, told The Sacramento Bee. Some have been reported in Texas, Florida and Arizona, states that also are…

Health insurers are far more interested in offering dental benefits now than they were two years ago, according to a new report. The percentage of health insurers offering dental insurance products has risen from 68% in 2018 to 80% today.

The coronavirus pandemic catapulted the country into one of the deepest recessions in U.S. history, leaving millions of Americans without jobs or health insurance. All of that raises a question: Is the U.S. better off with the public health interventions being used to keep the coronavirus from spreading or without them? In a new working paper, I and a team of health…

The Supreme Court delivered two wins Wednesday to religious liberty advocates, siding with nuns challenging Obamacare's contraceptive mandate and religious schools fending off workplace discrimination lawsuits. “Today, for the first time, the court casts totally aside countervailing rights and interests in its zeal to secure religious rights to the nth…

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is revealing just how much COVID-19 is costing. The insurer eliminated member cost-sharing — copays — for COVID-19 screening, testing and treatment. It also expanded its coverage of telehealth services, which saw its usage double between February and March.

As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, the World Health Organization said it acknowledges the emerging evidence that the deadly and infectious coronavirus may be transmitted through the air. During a news briefing on Tuesday, WHO health experts responded to an open letter signed by 239 scientists the day prior urging the U.N. body to recognize the potential for…

There is no debate about this statistic: Florida is the most popular state for the Affordable Care Act. With 1.9 million Floridians signing up for Obamacare in 2019, Florida continues to lead the nation in sign-ups. Nevertheless, it is beyond belief that Florida has have joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the act that is before the U.S….

Every Democrat who’ ll be on the ballot in November– from former Vice President Joe Biden to candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives– has received an invaluable campaign contribution from the unlikeliest of sources: the White House. Fully 10 years after Obamacare became law, Republicans are still routinely yapping about the need to“ repeal and replace”…

The National Association of Health Underwriters issued the following news release:. The National Association of Health Underwriters is thrilled to announce its 2020-21 Board of Trustees, who were named at its 90th Annual Convention, hosted virtually this week. Dane Rianhard, principal and senior consultant at Maryland- based TriBridge Partners, is the new…

Employers are in crisis management mode and facing uncertainty as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to record high numbers of jobless as well as concerns over business reopening. At a time like this, it’s easy to wonder whether employers will quit offering health benefits to their workers.

Jul. 1– Centene Corp., a St. Louis health insurance giant, will invest over $1 billion and bring at least 3,237 jobs to the University area of Charlotte over the next decade. “Today I am proud to announce that Centene Corporation, a pioneering, multi-national health care enterprise will establish it's East Coast regional headquarters and technology hub in…

Voters in Oklahoma's urban metro areas overwhelmingly approved the question to expand Medicaid, but rural voters largely opposed the measure. The question will enshrine Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma's constitution– effectively preventing Oklahoma's GOP- controlled Legislature or Republican governor from limiting or undoing the expansion.

A new LIMRA survey find companies have growing interest in modifying their benefits packages, enrollment strategies and their relationships with their carriers. About 25% of employers say COVID-19 has made them more interested in making changes to their insurance benefit programs within the next 18 months.

—The Trump administration was slow to comprehend the scale of COVID-19's impact on nursing homes and a disjointed federal response has only compounded the devastating toll, according to a report from Senate Democrats. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., and Gary Peters, D- Mich., joined in the report. The head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lead federal agency on…

—Oklahoma voters are deciding Tuesday whether to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of low-income residents and become the first state to amend their Constitution to do so. Idaho, Maine, Nebraska and Utah have all expanded Medicaid through ballot questions, but did so by amending state statutes, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

Days after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to scrap the Affordable Care Act, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would see it expanded.

Jun. 30– In one of Florida's biggest healthcare schemes, 10 business people from Miami and elsewhere have been charged with submitting $1.4 billion in bogus bills for urinalysis and blood tests through rural hospitals, federal prosecutors said Monday. Among those charged with conspiring to commit healthcare fraud: Jorge Perez, 60, Ricardo Perez, 57, Aaron…

—Democrats pushed a strengthening of“ Obamacare” patient protections toward House passage Monday, an effort they hoped would help them sharpen the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump's efforts to scuttle the increasingly popular law into a lethal campaign-season weapon. For Democrats, the bill was a chance to showcase their support for…

United States Secretary of Health & Human Services Alex M. Azar II

The Trump administration doesn’t expect to release a detailed health care plan until the Supreme Court rules on the legality of the Affordable Care Act, said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic that has sickened more than 2.4 million Americans, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, arguing the individual mandate has been made unconstitutional due to recent tax legislation.

Jun. 25– AtlantiCare and Geisinger announced in March that they would split, but it wasn't clear what AtlantiCare would have to do to regain its independence from the large central Pennsylvania health system that acquired it in 2015.. AtlantiCare will repay or refinance $225 million, the debt as of April 30, which is a combination of Geisinger lending to…

Jun. 24– Kentucky and the federal government will pay $383 million to settle a long-running lawsuit with 54 rural hospitals that successfully challenged Medicaid reimbursement rates set a decade ago under former Gov. Kentucky will pay $94 million of the settlement, with the rest coming from the U.S. Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services.

The measure includes Democratic priorities such as expanding the ACA’s subsidies to make premiums more affordable and encouraging states to expand Medicaid by increasing federal Medicaid funding. It also would do away with Trump administration policies such as expanding the availability of short-term plans that compete with ACA coverage.