Source: MSN News Embattled drug entrepreneur Martin Shkreli — who vigorously defended his decision to hike the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750 — suddenly went silent Thursday at a Congressional committee, smirking and grinning instead of answering questions. Now facing an unrelated federal criminal indictment, the typically loquacious Shkreli refused to […]
Read moreSource: California Healthline The regulation of health insurance in California is shifting dramatically toward the Department of Managed Health Care, whose share of the commercial market has mushroomed in recent years. The change has come at the expense of the other agency in the state’s unusual bifurcated system, the California Department of Insurance, whose authority […]
Read moreSource: Associated Press The California Legislature on Monday unveiled a bill imposing a new tax on health insurance plans that would prevent a massive $1.1 billion hole in the state budget. The tax is designed to allow California to continue receiving matching funds from the federal government to pay for health insurance for the poor. […]
Read moreSource: California Healthline More than 425,000 Californians have signed up on the state’s health insurance exchange — with nearly 100,000 rushing to enroll in the last four days before the 2016 open enrollment period ended Jan. 31, officials said Thursday. The exchange, Covered California, had estimated it would attract between 295,000 and 450,000 new enrollees […]
Read moreSource: Kaiser Health News In response to recent infections and deaths from tainted medical scopes, U.S. lawmakers are wrestling with how to keep other dangerous devices from harming patients. Members of Congress, federal officials and health-policy experts agree that the Food and Drug Administration’s surveillance system for devices is inadequate and relies too heavily on […]
Read moreSource: Bloomberg Business After Martin Shkreli raised the price of anti-parasitic drug Daraprim more than 50-foldto $750 a pill last year, he said he wasn’t alone in taking big price hikes. As it turns out, the former drug executive was right. A survey of about 3,000 brand-name prescription drugs found that prices more than doubled […]
Read moreSource: California Healthline Open enrollment for 2016 ends Sunday for those who buy health plans from the private market or health insurance exchanges. But if you don’t act by the deadline, are you completely out of luck? Not necessarily. If you lose your job, have a new child in the family or experience another qualifying […]
Read moreSource: The New York Times The Internal Revenue Service is warning consumers about tax scams involving the Affordable Care Act and penalties imposed under the law on people who go without health insurance. In some cases, the agency said, unscrupulous tax preparers tell clients to pay the penalties directly to them, and they keep the […]
Read moreSource: Kaiser Health News After the open enrollment period ends on Sunday for buying coverage on the health insurance marketplaces, people can generally sign up for or switch marketplace plans only if they have certain major life changes, such as losing their on-the-job coverage or getting married. Following insurance industry criticism, last week the federal […]
Read moreSource: CNN California voters will weigh in this November on a high-stakes ballot proposition intended to help control the cost of prescription drugs — the latest attempt to limit soaring prices that have prompted public criticism nationwide. The proposition would require the state to drive a harder bargain with drug companies so it doesn’t pay […]
Read more
