Medicare sets the rates it will pay based on hospital costs. But private payers have to negotiate with every hospital and doctor. And experts say lack of competition is a big part of the problem.
Highmark has closed on its acquisition of Gateway Health Plan Inc., an affiliated Medicaid managed care health insurer that boosts Highmark's enrollment by 355,000 members.
As Oklahoma's daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations surpasses 1,600, health insurance companies nationwide are dropping copays and additional payments associated with COVID-19 hospitalization, OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said in a COVID-19 update.
The financial cost of remaining unvaccinated against COVID-19 is rising. Health insurance providers are now asking people who contract the disease to share the cost of treatment, which can get expensive if it requires a lengthy hospital stay.
As Democrats get down to negotiating and writing their budget reconciliation bill, The Washington Post’s Rachel Roubein notes that the legislation is poised to be the biggest health expansion since Obamacare.
CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest providers of value-based care, announced today that it delivered improved quality and $136 million in savings to Medicare for the 2020 performance year of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).