Many Health Plans Now Must Cover Full Cost of Expensive HIV Prevention Drugs
Starting this month, most people with private insurance will no longer have to decide whether they can afford to protect themselves against HIV.
Michelle Andrews
Administration Eases Rules to Give Laid-Off Workers More Time to Sign Up for COBRA
By extending the time frame to sign up for COBRA coverage, people have at least 120 days to decide whether they want to elect COBRA, and possibly longer depending on when they lost their jobs.
2021 Health Plans Granted Leeway To Limit Consumers’ Benefit From Drug Coupons
Advocates say a new rule will make it harder for patients with conditions such as cancer and multiple sclerosis who rely on very expensive drugs to afford them.
Employers Are Scaling Back Their Dependence On High-Deductible Health Plans
Everything old is new again. As open enrollment gets underway for next year’s job-based health insurance coverage, some employees are seeing traditional plans offered alongside or instead of the plans with sky-high deductibles that may have been their only choice in the past.
Mired In Medical Debt? Federal Plan Would Update Overdue-Bill Collection Methods
Elham Mirshafiei was at the library cramming for final exams during her senior year at California State University-Long Beach when she grew nauseated and started vomiting. After the 10th episode in an hour, a friend took her to the nearest emergency room.
Staggering Prices Slow Insurers’ Coverage of Cancer Therapy
Candidates for a new type of gene therapy have had trouble gaining access to the medications, with some patients denied coverage.
Patients whose blood cancers have failed to respond to repeated rounds of chemotherapy may be candidates for a new type of gene therapy that could send their cancers into remission for years.
Consumers Contributing Less To Health Savings Accounts, Study Finds
Even though consumers are digging deeper to cover rising out-of-pocket medical costs, they’re contributing less to health savings accounts that could help take the sting out of their expenses, according to a new study.
Between 2011 and 2014, the percentage of people who said they contributed nothing to their health savings accounts (HSAs) more than doubled, to 23 percent, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Despite Health Law’s Protections, Many Consumers May Be 'Underinsured'
Republished Courtesy of Kaiser Health News
People with chronic conditions will be better protected from crippling medical bills starting in January as the health law’s coverage requirements and spending limits take effect.
