Julie Appleby reports on the health care law's implementation, health care treatments and costs, trends in health insurance, and policy affecting hospitals and other medical providers. Her stories have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, MSNBC and others. Before joining KHN, Appleby spent 10 years covering the health care industry and policy at USA Today.
The proposed rule aimed at stabilizing the health law’s insurance marketplace could have rapid, dramatic effects on people who do not get insurance through work and buy it on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges.
The proliferation of drug advertisements has generated new controversy, in part because the ads inevitably promote high-priced drugs.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Congressional Republicans have not yet hinted whether they will keep, modify or kill the program but they generally support the cost-saving goal of the center and many observers think they will want to preserve it.
The device tax taps into voters’ feelings about placing such levies on businesses and into opinions about the Affordable Care Act's future.
The abrupt rise is notable because many people think that life-threatening allergies are less common among the elderly. In addition, epinephrine — the active ingredient in EpiPens — can pose greater risks to older adults.
In one of the first looks at privately insured patients with opioid problems, researchers paint a grim picture: Medical services for people with opioid dependence diagnoses skyrocketed more than 3,000 percent between 2007 and 2014.
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Spending on these medications in Medicare’s Part D program, for example, rose 56 percent last year, with some of the costliest products, including topical pain creams, priced at hundreds or thousands of dollars per tube.
The case alleges that insured workers paid too much because Express Scripts charged “above competitive pricing levels” and Anthem, in effect, allowed those higher prices as part of a 10-year contract deal with the PBM, in violation of ERISA.
Researchers are trying to see what — if any — is the common factor behind FluMist’s recent poor performance.
The commission recommends an interrelated set of proposals it estimates could save at least $10 billion over five years, partly by encouraging more use of generic drugs and also by creating incentives for insurers to negotiate better prices from drug makers.
We will highlight Build My Health's revenue practice management tools, which could help physician practices add up to $250,000 to their practices.
The aim, the government says, is to maintain quality while slowing spending in Medicare Part B by more closely tying payments to how well drugs work, using methods drugmakers, insurers and benefit managers are already trying in the private sector.
“By financially coercing employees into surrendering their personal health information, these rules will weaken medical privacy and civil rights protections," the AARP said in its statement.
One big question is who will pay for the technology? Agencies using programs aimed at consumers can build the cost into their home care services, charging consumers more than agencies that didn’t use the technology.
Many cite fears that wellness program information about pregnancy status will get back to employers – although several laws and rules sharply limit what employers can glean.
Under a proposal from EEOC , wellness programs would be considered voluntary so long as the employer rewards or penalizes an employee no more than 30 percent of the cost of health insurance for a single worker.