Two-thirds of the 5.9 million state residents under Covered California who have signed up for a health plan at the site pay a monthly premium of $10 or less for a health plan that covers them if their families experience unexpected medical challenges.
In addition to addressing care needs that are often unmet or handled by unpaid family members, this type of program could help households more efficiently manage risks at older ages, expand the productive capacity of the economy by providing more flexibility to would-be unpaid caregivers, and potentially reduce reliance on other public programs.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Amedisys Inc. representatives are slated to meet with top Justice Department antitrust enforcers in a last-ditch effort to persuade the agency not to challenge their proposed tie-up, according to people familiar with the matter. The high-stakes meeting between the companies and DOJ antitrust leadership, including Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, is typically the last step before officials decide whether to file a lawsuit. It's often referred to as a 'last-rites' meeting.
Patients covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas Medicare Advantage and Medicaid insurance plans will lose in-network access to MD Anderson Cancer Center next week, according to a statement on the cancer hospital's website. By Nov. 1, the hospital's agreement with the insurer's Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans will expire, meaning patients on those plans will no longer be charged heavily discounted rates for care. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies and, like original Medicare, cover people over the age of 65 or people with certain disabilities.
Health insurers have made an enticing pitch to local governments across the country: When your workers see doctors outside your health plan's network, costs can balloon, but we offer a program to protect against outrageous bills. Cities, counties and school districts have signed up, hoping to control the costs of their medical benefits. Then come the fees. Behind the fees is a little-known partnership between major insurers — including UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna and Elevance Health — and a data analytics firm called MultiPlan.
More than half of insured Americans say they can't predict how much their covered prescription drugs will cost, according to an annual survey by the pharmaceutical industry trade group PhRMA. The results, shared first with Axios, come as the drug industry is pressing for more transparency regulations on pharmacy benefit managers and insurers in the lame-duck period following the election.