Wednesday, January 5, 2022: Payers

A report from the HHS Office of Inspector General found that roughly 20 percent of the $8 billion Medicare spent on lab tests in 2020 went toward COVID-19 tests. COVID-19 drove up Medicare’s overall spending on tests by 4 percent from 2019 to 2020, but spending...

Tuesday, January 4, 2022: Payers

Starbucks Corp. announced that it will require all workers in its U.S. cafes, offices and manufacturing plants to be vaccinated by February 9 or get tested weekly. The company is one of the first large restaurant chains to take such a step ahead of potential federal...

Wednesday, December 29, 2021: Payers

The CMS released its proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters rule late Tuesday, revealing that payers would have to offer standardized plan options for every product network type, plan tier type, and plan classification. The CMS said the goal is to allow...

Tuesday, December 28, 2021: Payers

Goldman Sachs announced it will require employees and visitors to its U.S. offices to have booster shots, beginning in February. Beginning in January, in-person staff will get tested twice weekly. Goldman was among the Wall Street banks that have pushed hardest to...

Monday, December 20, 2021: Payers

According to the CMS, insurers gave out approximately $2 billion in rebates for 2020 to nearly 10 million consumers under the ACA’s medical loss ratio provision. Health insurers provided approximately $1.3 billion in rebates in the individual market, $384 million in...

Thursday, December 16, 2021: Payers

The CMS Office of the Actuary released a report stating that the U.S. spent $4.1 trillion on health care in 2020. The report found that S. health care spending increased 9.7 percent in 2020 – a rate that is significantly higher than the roughly 5 percent growth in...