News Briefs
✦ The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on June 1 that the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) cannot create a managed care program as part of the state’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion — on the same day that ...
Average Benchmark Plan Premium Slightly Drops, Insurer Participation Rises in 2021
The national average premium for the second-lowest-cost silver plan, or benchmark plan, sold through the Affordable Care Act exchanges is $443 per month for a 40-year-old nonsmoker in 2021, a 1.7% drop compared to 2...
Report: Health Care Costs Dropped in 2020, Will Rebound
An annual report on the cost of health care prepared by Milliman, Inc. found that, for the first time in years, health care costs for the average American family fell in 2020. However, experts say that is unlikely t...
Survey: Virtual Visits Increase Health Plan Member Satisfaction
More than one-third of privately insured health plan members in the U.S. accessed telehealth services in 2020, up from just 9% a year ago. The increased use of telemedicine and other digital tools and services is co...
Nevada Public Option Will Make Payers, Providers ‘Sweat’
Nevada lawmakers this week passed a public option bill, which experts say is the most ambitious and aggressive in a wave of similar policies that have been seriously discussed in recent years. Payers and providers a...
MA Plans Seek Ways to Improve Patient Experience, Stars
Last month marked the end of a three-month data collection cycle that will have a meaningful impact on the 2023 Medicare Parts C and D star ratings, when member experience measures take on a larger weight in star ra...
Good as Gold? Experts Mull Impact of Reindexing ACA Subsidies
When President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress late last month, he briefly exhorted lawmakers to “lower deductibles for working families” who get their health insurance on the Affordable Care Act...
Plans Should Consider Race in Actuarial, Operational Processes
A previous version of this article incorrectly described Bela Gorman as the chair of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Health Equity Work Group. She is the vice chair.
The health insurance industry, prompted b...
Lowering Medicare Age Could Have Mixed Coverage Effects
Lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 could add as many as 24.5 million individuals to the program, an analysis from Avalere finds. However, shifting people ages 60 to 64 to Medicare actually could have a mixe...