Category: Insurers

In The Battle To Control Drug Costs, Old Patent Laws Get New Life

Health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are exploring how two legal provisions — which have been on the books for decades — could bring down the price tags of certain prescription medications. 

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.

Insurer To Purdue Pharma: We Won’t Pay For OxyContin Anymore

Embattled drugmaker Purdue Pharma defends OxyContin as some insurers are dropping the drug in favor of other abuse-deterrent opioid painkillers.

Insurer To Purdue Pharma: We Won’t Pay For OxyContin Anymore

Embattled drugmaker Purdue Pharma defends OxyContin as some insurers are dropping the drug in favor of other abuse-deterrent opioid painkillers.

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.

A Black Eye For Blue Shield: Consumers Lash Out Over Coverage Lapses

The state’s third-largest insurer faces anger from customers in the individual market who unexpectedly lost their insurance despite paying premiums faithfully. In its recently filed lawsuit, the company blamed a contractor for “egregious” billing problems.

Feds Urge States To Encourage Cheaper Plans Off The Exchanges

Many insurers added surcharges to policies they sold to individuals last year to make up for a cut in federal funding. Now, federal officials suggest that states encourage insurers to sell policies without those surcharges outside of the marketplace to help people who don’t get a premium subsidy.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Let’s Talk Politics

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call talk about health care’s emergence as a possible voting issue in the coming midterm elections. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Emmarie Huetteman about July’s “Bill of the Month”: a transgender woman’s “bait-and-switch” $92,000 surgical bill.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Congress And Health Care. Again.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner talk about the new push on health legislation by Republicans in the House, as well as developments on Medicaid work requirements, drug prices and the fate of children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite health stories of the week.