CVS Health plans to launch a new insurance product by the end of March 2020. It will absorb the astronomical expenses health plan members experience when undergoing gene therapy. “With prices for a single treatment as high as $2 million, many employers are struggling to find ways to offer coverage …
The United States saw cancer death rates decrease by 2.2% from 2016 to 2017, the biggest single-year drop in history. According to a report from the American Cancer Society, the United States has seen a 29% decrease in cancer rates from 1991 to 2016 — which equates to 2.9 million …
On December 18, 2019, it was released that New York Life Insurance Co. agreed to pay $6.3 billion for a Cigna Corp. unit that sells non-medical insurance products to employers. New York Life Insurance Co. is one of the nation’s oldest and financially strongest life insurers. As low interest rates …
Four major hospital groups have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the rule on healthcare transparency released in November. The rule would require hospitals to disclose their pricing information, including negotiated rates. The Federation of American Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the …
On December 4, 2019, Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) announced it will be partnering with Novartis AG, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. “AWS’s security, scalability, and highly reliable infrastructure can help Novartis advance its technical operations with greater agility and customer-orientation, and potentially reduce the time it takes …
On Friday, November 15, 2019, the Trump administration released its final rule regarding hospital price transparency, which will take effect in 2021. What does this new rule mean? Hospitals will now be required to provide easily accessible billing information to patients. This means having all standard charges available online and …
Amazon has announced that it’s launching a virtual health clinic for Seattle-based employees and their families. What is the goal of this virtual health clinic? It will aim to provide telemedicine, in-person services, in-home follow-up appointments for employees, as well as serve as a vehicle for prescribing medications. This new …
On Monday, July 29, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed rules that would require all Medicare-participating hospitals to post their negotiated prices for standard healthcare services. The Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) & Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) proposed rule is intended to increase pricing transparency and help …
On Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, President Donald Trump delivered the 2019 State of the Union Address (SOTU). The SOTU is an annual message delivered by the president to a joint session of Congress at the beginning of each year. At this year’s SOTU, President Trump discussed issues that have the …
Announced November 28, 2018, CVS Health, the nation’s premier health innovation company, has completed its acquisition of Aetna. This venture is speculated to have transformative impacts on the industry and the way consumers access health care. In an announcement released yesterday, Aetna revealed that the goal of the acquisition is …
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, President Donald Trump signed two bills into law that ban the “gag clauses” that can result in consumers overpaying for their prescriptions. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, said this action is the first of a series that will be …
The UPMC Health Plan and network, primarily utilized throughout Western and Central Pennsylvania, is continuing its rapid expansion into the Eastern region of the state. Effective January 1st, 2019, UPMC’s insurance product lines will now be available throughout the majority of Pennsylvania, with the exception of the 5 counties of …
Interesting times…. The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and its volumes of regulations have been the law of the land since 2010. Implementation was sometimes messy (the exchange websites), confusing (1095-C coding), and unreliable (late December extensions of filing deadlines). However, it is the law, and employers have spent billions of dollars to comply. While …
Working in the benefits world, we understand the sense of pride employers feel in being able to offer a strong benefits program to their employees. With benefit premiums constantly climbing and budgets tight, many scramble to find benefits that add value but don’t break the bank. For some employers, Commuter …
For most of us, seeing the doctor means making an appointment, trekking to the doctor’s office and having a face-to-face meeting. With its increasing accessibility and popularity, however, many consumers are turning to telemedicine as an alternative to a traditional doctor’s office visit. At Creative Benefits, we have observed a …
