This article was published on June 21, 2018 on BenefitsPro, written by Greg Land. Photo Source: BenefitsPro. A woman was sued by a Colorado hospital seeking more than three times what it had already been paid for her surgery. A Colorado jury declared a hospital’s billing unreasonable, turning aside its lawsuit demanding almost $230,000 from [...]
From a drug manufacturer that contributes money to a non-profit Copay Assistance foundation and then steers Medicare patients taking their drugs to that foundation to a diagnostic lab that pays doctors for every blood test they refer, disguising the payments as “processing and handling fees”, there seems to be no end to the costly schemes [...]
On June 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor released the final rule on Association Health Plans (AHPs). The rule seeks to expand health coverage among small employer groups and self-employed individuals. It will make it easier for small business to join together to purchase health insurance without the myriad of regulations individual states and [...]
This article was published on June 14, 2018 on BenefitsPro, written by Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News (Maria Fabrizio for KHN) . Photo Source: BenefitsPro. Kaiser Health News is releasing years of Purdue Pharma’s internal budget documents to offer insight into the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to launch and promote OxyContin. Purdue Pharma [...]
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) reports that while the number of mid-sized businesses self-funding their health benefits actually declined slightly during 2015 and 2016, the percentage of smaller employer groups, those with less than 100 employees, increased from 14.2% to 17.4%.
IRS ACA Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Fees Due July 31st. For 2018, the annual fee to fund the federal Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), paid by employers that sponsor self-insured health plans and by commercial group health insurance providers, will go up by about 10 cents per employee or dependent enrolled in the [...]
MyHealthGuide Source: The Phia Group, 6/8/2018, www.PhiaGroup.com Foxboro, MA -- The Phia Group, LLC, at its annual MVP (Most Valuable Partners) event, was pleased to recognize this year’s winner of The Phia Group “Trophy of Empowerment.” It is with appreciation that they now publically announce the name of their 2018 Empowered Plan Award winner, Diversified [...]
According to preliminary government data, U.S. deaths involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids fueled a 21% jump in annual drug overdose deaths during 2017. The increase from 9,945 opioid deaths in 2016 to 20,145 during 2017 reflected the sharpest one-year increase since the U.S. began experiencing a widespread opioid addiction. CDC data shows that deaths [...]
On May 21, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2018-34 which indexes the contribution percentages for 2019 for purposes of determining affordability of an employer’s plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). For plan years beginning in 2019, employer-sponsored coverage will be considered affordable if the employee’s required contribution for self-only coverage does not [...]
This article was published on May 23, 2018 on Westfaironline, written by Aleesia Forni. Photo Source: Westfaironline. New York and Connecticut ranked among the worst states in the nation in terms of hospital safety, according to a recent survey. According to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey covering the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, New [...]
