Kaiser Health News
The monthly cost is increasing an average 26 percent for UnitedHealthcare's AARP MedicareRx Saver Plus while the First Health Value Plus plan is dropping an average 13 percent, according to an analysis of the 10 most popular drug plans by Avalere Health, a research firm.
President Barack Obama signed legislation last week that makes a significant change in the health law's small business rules, following a rare bipartisan effort to amend the health law.
There are nearly 4 million births a year in the U.S. and 98 percent still arrive in hospitals, but the increase in birth centers run by midwives has obstetricians, health insurers and hospitals taking notice.
Although larger practices may have the resources to provide benefits to patients through better care coordination or access to new technologies, among other things, these practices' greater market power may enable them to charge higher prices than smaller practices, the study authors said.
Private Health Management, a Los Angeles based company that - for a substantial fee - helps patients figure out what's wrong with them, often after an array of doctors have failed to do so.
According to an analysis released Wednesday, it can pay to shop around for women's health care, with mammograms and other routine services often costing far more in one office than in another.
Last month Broward Health agreed to pay $70 million to settle allegations that it engaged in "improper financial relationships" with doctors under laws prohibiting kickbacks in return for patient referrals.
Chronically ill people enrolled in individual health plans sold on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges pay on average twice as much out-of-pocket for prescription drugs each year than people covered through their workplace, according to a study published Monday in the Health Affairs journal.
Half of large employers offering health benefits have wellness programs that ask workers to submit to medical tests, often dubbed "biometrics," that can involve a trip to a doctor's office, lab or workplace health fair.
Out-of-network providers charged patients on average 300 percent more than the Medicare rate for certain treatments or procedures, according to the analysis of 2013 and 2014 claims data released Thursday by the America's Health Insurance Plans.