Data from the hospitals that have complied hints at why the powerful industries wanted this information to remain hidden. It shows hospitals are charging patients wildly different amounts for the same basic services: procedures as simple as an X-ray or a pregnancy test. And it provides numerous examples of major health insurers — some of the world’s largest companies, with billions in annual profits — negotiating surprisingly unfavorable rates for their customers.
President Biden announced Wednesday he is ordering the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require nursing homes to have vaccinated staff for them to be able to participate in Medicare and Medicaid and receive funding from the federal programs. The vaccination requirement will be the first time the federal government has implemented any type of vaccination requirement besides those for federal government employees.
According to Forbes, more employers are considering imposing a premium surcharge on employees participating in the company's health plan who are not vaccinated for COVID-19. Whether positioned as rewards or penalties, wellness program incentives have become vehicles of choice for encouraging behaviors believed to be healthy and reducing health plan costs.
UnitedHealthcare is acquiring PreferredOne, a health insurer based in Golden Valley, in a deal that will give the nation's largest insurer a significantly larger competitive presence in its home state.
Former health insurance executive Wendell Potter heavily criticized the disparities in care following a new report that ranks the U.S. last in healthcare among the richest countries despite spending the most. He said all of the other countries outranking the U.S. have one thing in common: universal healthcare.