Health Care

Last Chance to Repeal the Affordable Care Act?

By Michael Rainey

A conservative group released a proposal Tuesday to repeal the Affordable Care Act in August and give control over health care to the states, The Wall Street Journal reports . The proposal from the...
New Rules for Health Care Plans for Small Businesses

By Michael Rainey

Fulfilling an executive order signed by President Trump last fall, the Labor Department on Tuesday released new rules expanding the use of association health plans, which allow self-employed...
As Medicaid Costs Soar, States Try a New Approach

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

MINNEAPOLIS — Sandy Dowland has been to the emergency room 10 times in the past year and was hospitalized during four of those visits. She has had a toe amputated and suffers from uncontrolled...
Court Rules That US Doesn’t Owe Insurers Disputed Obamacare Payments

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal government does not have to pay health insurers money they claimed they are owed under an Obamacare program, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. In a 2-1 ruling, the panel of judges...
5 Things To Know About Medicaid Work Requirements

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

The Trump administration’s decision in January to give states the power to impose work requirements on Medicaid enrollees faces a federal court hearing Friday. The lawsuit before the U.S. District...

Health Care Costs Will Rise 6 Percent Next Year, PwC Predicts

By Yuval Rosenberg

Employer health care costs are set to rise 6 percent next year, consistent with the trend over the last five years, according to new projection from PwC’s Health Research Institute . But while cost...
Record Rate of Generic Drug Approvals May Not Help Lower Prices

By Michael Rainey

The Food and Drug Administration is approving generic drugs for sale at a record pace as part of a strategy to reduce prices through increased competition for name-brand drugs. But a new analysis of...
Can Big Companies Put a Lid on Health Care Costs?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Reuters’ Caroline Humer reports on the lengths some U.S. companies are now going to in an effort to get their health care costs under control by more closely monitoring and managing employees’ health...
Why Health Care Could Be a Disaster for Republicans in November

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Trump administration has handed Democrats more ammunition in the midterm election debate over health care — you know, the issue (aside from Trump himself) voters say they care about most. Premium...
The 'Biggest Health Care News of the Year'

By Michael Rainey

The Department of Justice said Thursday that it will not defend the constitutionality of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act in a lawsuit currently underway in Texas. Here’s what you need to...

Medicaid’s $37 Billion 'Improper Payments' Problem

By Michael Rainey

Total outlays for Medicaid reached $596 billion in the 2017 fiscal year, up from $565 billion in 2016, and the program’s vast size and complexity makes it particularly vulnerable to issuing large...
Paul Ryan's Fiscal Legacy: Lots of Red Ink

By Yuval Rosenberg

House Speaker Paul Ryan announced Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election this year and will retire at the end of his term in January, becoming the most prominent in a wave of Republican lawmakers...
Yellen, Democratic Economists Say Fixing Debt Crisis Isn’t All About Entitlements

By Yuval Rosenberg

Late last month, a quintet of big-name Hoover Institution economists warned in a Washington Post op-ed that a coming “string of perpetually rising trillion-dollar-plus deficits” could soon lead to a...
How Walmart Could Fix the US Health Care System

By Christina Farr and Lauren Hirsch, CNBC

Walmart, the nation's biggest employer, is trying to redesign how U.S. health care works. It's one of the few companies that has the power to succeed. The retailer has been having early-stage talks...
California Takes On Health Giant Over High Costs

By Chad Terhune and Ana B. Ibarra, Kaiser Health News

California’s attorney general sued Sutter Health, accusing the hospital giant of illegally quashing competition and for years overcharging consumers and employers. The lawsuit marked a bold move by...