STAT+: ‘No real clear path’: Insurance coverage for cutting-edge diagnostics remains a major challenge for personalized medicine
DANA POINT, Calif. — Even the best treatment for a disease is no help if…
Category: insurance
STAT+: Former top Medicare official says Medicare Advantage’s coding industry offers ‘no benefit to society’
Parts of the Medicare Advantage program — essentially, private Medicare plan options — are ripe…
STAT+: Pharma wins a court battle over an HHS rule that would have penalized them for offering copay coupons
In a notable win for the pharmaceutical industry, a federal court judge tossed a rule…
Seven health insurance CEOs raked in a record $283 million last year
The CEOs of America’s seven largest publicly traded health insurance and services companies cumulatively earned…
STAT+: Omicron squeezed hospitals more than health insurers in the first quarter
The beginning of 2022 was kinder to health insurers than it was to hospitals. Many…
STAT+: UnitedHealthcare restricts coverage of Aduhelm, following Medicare
UnitedHealthcare is restricting insurance coverage of Aduhelm across all of its health plans, saying the…
The doctor who is trying to bring back surprise billing
If Daniel Haller gets his way, surprise medical bills will be back in full force….
Federal antitrust case against Sutter Health headed for appeal
The long-running federal antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health is getting a second wind after attorneys…
STAT+: Nation’s top cancer hospitals slap hefty markups on drugs, study says
The nation’s preeminent cancer hospitals are charging commercial health insurers anywhere from double to seven…
STAT+: Omicron’s speedy retreat helped bolster UnitedHealth Group’s bottom line
The relative brevity of the Omicron surge helped the bottom line at UnitedHealth Group. UnitedHealth’s…
STAT+: ‘Completely unsustainable’: Small employers brace for giant health insurance price hikes
Many small companies are expected to face double-digit hikes to their health insurance premiums next…
STAT+: Biden administration funnels one of the largest-ever pay increases to Medicare Advantage insurers
The federal government is boosting the average payment to Medicare Advantage plans by 5% for…
STAT+: UnitedHealth’s deal with LHC highlights broader interest in home health industry
UnitedHealth Group’s proposed $5.4 billion buyout of home health and hospice provider LHC Group serves…
Opinion: How to fix the two-tier U.S. health payment system
How the U.S. pays for health care is neither efficient nor fair. Despite spending an…
STAT+: She was told ‘girls don’t do that.’ Now Margaret-Mary Wilson is a top executive at UnitedHealth Group
Long before she became a top executive at UnitedHealth Group, back in her native Nigeria,…
STAT+: The biggest PBMs are handling more and more of the country’s drug price negotiations
Alex Schmelzer didn’t think he’d be the most-hated person in drug pricing negotiations, but he…
Opinion: Giving gender-affirming care: ‘gender dysphoria’ diagnosis should not be required
As people around the world come to acknowledge that gender is something defined along a…
STAT+: Even as it struggles, startup insurer Bright Health deepens its ties to Cigna
Bright Health is hemorrhaging money, raising questions not only about its future but also about…
Virtual reality in the health care space heats up
You’re reading the web edition of STAT Health Tech, our guide to how tech is…
STAT+: Prescription apps to treat disease face uncertainty as they fight for insurance coverage
In August, Pear Therapeutics, the company at the forefront of creating prescription software to treat…
Opinion: Health plans, insurers need to make addressing racial inequities in health care part of their core work
Health care companies and organizations across the country are grappling with health inequities, spurred by…
Opinion: People in states without Medicaid expansion can’t wait any longer to build back better
Lawmakers are in the midst of deliberations over the Build Back Better Act, a landmark…
Opinion: Insurers should cover energy costs for prescribed medical equipment
Some Americans working from home during the pandemic noticed sizable increases in their monthly electric…
STAT+: UnitedHealthcare launches a virtual-first health insurance plan as hybrid care gains steam
The pandemic prompted a mad dash to figure out how to deliver health care virtually….
Opinion: Hold insurers accountable for covering HIV prevention drugs at no cost to patients
Even before the Affordable Care Act reduced uninsured rates in our country, it required private…
Opinion: Two insurance-based ways to get more Americans vaccinated
With 40% of Americans completely unvaccinated against Covid-19 — blame it on political polarization, virulent…
Opinion: Accountable care organizations don’t cut costs. It’s time to stop the managed care experiment
For the last half-century, Congress has endorsed essentially the same approach to cutting health care…
Opinion: The ethical implications of who judges what’s ‘necessary’ when it comes to emergency care
Last month, I rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency care after experiencing pelvic pain…
Alzheimer’s patients are in limbo as hospitals, insurers grapple with whether to offer Aduhelm
For all the explosive controversy over the approval of the first treatment for Alzheimer’s disease…
Opinion: Outdated Medicare rules threaten older Americans’ access to home medical equipment
Pandemic-related breaks in global supply chains for drugs and essential medical supplies are affecting the…
Opinion: Copay assistance should count as part of patients’ cost sharing for medications
The Biden administration has made health equity a priority and it has been a constant…
Opinion: STAT+: The many benefits of expanding the reach of state all-payer claims databases
Appointments to the newly created State All Payer Claims Databases Advisory Committee in March were…
Opinion: Congress should end dialysis companies’ third-party games with insurance coverage
The Covid-19 relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in March temporarily expanded…
Opinion: Fee or free? The services hospital-based psychologists provide are ‘priceless’
Hospital-based psychologists are sorely undervalued, not just for the care they provide their patients and…
Opinion: Covid-19 makes ‘brutally clear’ why we need to add a public option for health insurance
As the United States rebuilds from this pandemic, we must aim higher than a return…
Opinion: Instead of prior authorization, insurers should go back to the old ‘pay-and-chase’ model
The news Jennifer G. and her husband got from her medical team was devastating. If…
Opinion: A public option for health insurance could be a disaster, especially in times of crisis
In a step to help more Americans get health insurance, President Biden signed an executive…
Opinion: The number of Americans without health insurance has been trending up. Let’s turn it down again
In 2020, the United States entered its most severe public health crisis in a century…
Opinion: Who’s choosing Americans’ medications — doctors or insurers? The bane of prior authorization
New Year’s Day, the day of new beginnings, is a day health care providers like…
Opinion: We need long-term solutions for older Americans’ long-term care
“Mom is getting older,” my brother said to me as we chatted on the phone….
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Opinion: Make list price the touchstone for drug pricing across the supply chain
In October, the House Oversight Committee turned a magnifying glass on the rising cost of…
Opinion: Instead of eliminating drug rebates, use average sales price to set co-insurance levels
Changing key elements of the U.S. health care system can be effective and in the…
Opinion: Covid-19 is accelerating the Medicare trust fund’s dive toward insolvency
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed another victim: Medicare’s trust fund. The Congressional Budget Office released…
Opinion: Seeing the ‘deep pocket’ effect when insurers pay for health care
Some Americans pay directly for their health care. Many others have it covered by their…
STAT Plus: Two years of halting progress and high turnover preceded Atul Gawande’s exit as Haven CEO
Atul Gawande’s announcement last week that he was stepping down as CEO of a high-profile…
Gawande says leaving Haven CEO job will allow him to focus on Covid-19
Atul Gawande on Wednesday confirmed that he will step down as chief executive of the…
STAT Plus: Atul Gawande to depart as CEO of splashy health venture. Is it ‘a death knell’?
It seemed an ideal partnership: Three of America’s most powerful companies were teaming up with…
Opinion: Super Tuesday results suggest that Americans ‘aren’t looking for big structural changes’ in health care
Voters on Tuesday sent several messages, including a key one about health care. Big ideas…
STAT Plus: Americans with employer coverage saw growth in drug spending outpace other medical costs
Americans with private employer health insurance spent nearly 26% more on prescription drugs from 2014…
Opinion: I was fortunate to get post-23andMe genetic counseling. Everyone should have that option
A year ago, I was shivering in the pre-op room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center waiting…