News Briefs
✦ The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 10 ruled unanimously against the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) in a case challenging an Arkansas law regulating PBMs. In Rutledge v. PCMA, the justices rejected...
Shareholder Suit Keeps Anthem/Cigna ‘Soap Opera’ Alive
Although a judge has already ruled in a lengthy court battle over the breakup fee and damages related to Anthem, Inc.’s failed attempt to acquire Cigna Corp., litigation related to the doomed deal apparently is no...
Boldest Parts of New ACA Exchange Rule Face Uncertain Fate
In a proposed rule released on Nov. 25, CMS floated some ambitious changes to the regulations governing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, most notably allowing states to ditch a centralized health plan market...
Employer-Sponsored Health Care Costs Rose Steadily Over the Past Decade
In 2019, people with employer-sponsored health plans spent 11.5% of their median household income on premiums and deductibles, compared to 9.1% in 2010, according to a recent study published by The Commonwealth Fund...
Employers Are Cautiously Studying Move to ICHRAs
Health care industry insiders say that employers of all sizes are beginning to take a serious look at moving some of their health benefits to Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) starting i...
UnitedHealth Projects Growth Despite COVID Costs, Plus Tech Investment in 2021
At its annual investor day on Dec. 1, UnitedHealth Group predicted that it will incur $2 billion in extra, incidental expenditures in 2021 caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Still, Wall Street analysts agreed ...
News Briefs
✦ Humana Inc. on Dec. 3 unveiled that it will acquire the remaining 50% of iCare, a Wisconsin-based Medicaid plan that it already owned in part. iCare, which Humana previously co-owned with Centers for Independenc...
Insurers Sound Alarm Over Increasingly Pricey COVID-19 Tests
With the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse than ever, health insurers are facing an uncertain level of exposure to testing costs. That’s because payers and plan sponsors are on the hook for the entire cost of corona...
States Look Beyond Reinsurance to Protect Individual Markets
Reinsurance programs can help lower premiums in the individual insurance market, but they’re not enough by themselves — states will need to experiment with broader measures to impact underlying health care costs...
Insiders: Biden May Revisit Payer Price Transparency Rule
While President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will likely move forward with some type of health insurer price transparency regulation, industry insiders say the new policy will likely differ from the rule the T...