For how we live.
A tri-agency final rule, effective 7 December, overhauls the machine-readable price files insurers must post and requires cost estimates by phone. The changes apply to plan years from 1 January 2027.
An interim final rule lets HHS freeze federal-marketplace registration for agents and brokers without a current plan-year agreement. CMS imposed the pause immediately; it runs until 1 February 2027.
When a large firm moved everyone to a high-deductible plan, spending fell about 12-14%. The catch: people cut valuable and low-value care alike, and barely shopped on price.
Pharmacy benefit managers sit between you, your insurer and the pharmacy. The three largest process nearly 80% of US prescriptions, and a federal regulator says the structure can raise costs.
Since 2021, hospitals must post the rates they negotiate with each insurer. The data confirms the same procedure at the same hospital varies widely by which insurer is paying.
Physician surveys report delays and abandoned treatment; those are self-reported. A harder number: a federal audit found 13% of Medicare Advantage denials met Medicare's own coverage rules.
A new administration analysis estimates 2.9 million people were removed from ACA exchange plans as improperly or fraudulently enrolled — and that 2.6 million more remain.
An analysis of insurance claims from 2016 to 2023 found extreme heat consistently drove up emergency department use and cost across commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare Advantage plans.
Neither the Democratic extension nor the Republican alternative cleared the 60-vote threshold. KFF puts the average out-of-pocket premium increase at 114%.
A national insurance-claims analysis found long-term adherence far below what trial populations suggest, despite universal coverage and strict usage monitoring. The monitoring may be part of the problem.