North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has fined UnitedHealthcare $3.4 million for violations in claims handling practices involving balance billing, the state Department of Insurance says. The fine stems from a four-year investigation that revealed UnitedHealthcare failed to protect members from unexpected out-of-network charges, particularly in emergency room and anesthesia services.
Blue Cross Blue Shield faced a class action lawsuit alleging that the insurance company broke antitrust laws by limiting market competition. Within the lawsuit, it was argued that this increased premiums and reduced options for customers while generating fixed prices for healthcare services. However, the defendants, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, deny wrongdoing. The court did not reach a final verdict, however the case was settled. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the companies agreed upon a $2.67 billion settlement fund, which was finalized in October, that will pay customers who filed a claim. If you are a Blue Cross Blue Shield customer, and you haven't filed a claim in the class action lawsuit, then you will not receive a settlement payment, since the deadline for filing a claim has passed.
Agency staff were notified in emails that all the centers, institutes and offices received a list of their staff members who are in probationary or temporary status, according to a senior CDC official who requested anonymity. Senior leaders were asked to designate who on the list were mission critical and not mission critical, the source who has direct knowledge of the actions told NPR.
President Trump's tariffs in China are in place and hitting all products imported from the country — including a number of pharmaceutical drugs that Americans rely upon. Chinese imports account for a significant proportion of U.S. prescriptions and over the counter drugs. Many of the Chinese-produced drugs are generics, which account for 91% of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S.
In 2023-24, CDC Estimates COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the CDC estimated, although with considerable uncertainty. The investigators estimated COVID-related deaths ... using a novel multiplier model that used causal inference, conditional probabilities of hospitalization, and correlations between data elements in simulations.
More than one million Floridians have had their health insurance revoked as a result of a nationwide disenrollment from coverage that was previously safeguarded as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Medicaid and CHIP enrolment in Florida has fallen from 5.1 million to 3.8 million between March 2023 and October 2024, according to KFF. While some people may be re-enrolled, transition to employer-sponsored plans, or search for coverage in the wider healthcare marketplace, the decline poses a risk to Florida's most vulnerable populations and underscores challenges in effectively communicating healthcare policies to the public. The Sunshine State lags behind the national average in terms of coverage, ranking fourth in the U.S. for the number of uninsured individuals under 65, according to Census Bureau data cited by Axios.