Live Insurance News

North Carolina lawmakers considering major health insurance changes

April 28, 2023April 27, 2023 Logan B.

At the same time, they are also considering substantial changes to the prescription drug industry. A number of bills are currently moving forward in North Carolina with the intention of overhauling components of the health insurance and pharmacy industries. Powerful companies are pushing hard in the hopes of securing regulations in their favor. The changes to the laws in the state would include those regulating Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the largest health insurance company in the state. Those have already made it through their first committee, though…

Bill to let health insurance companies and doctors in Florida deny patients care

April 14, 2023April 13, 2023 Logan B.

Health insurance companies - Access to health care denied

The state is considering a bill that is intended to provide insurers and healthcare providers choice. A Florida bill currently under consideration is aiming to provide doctors and health insurance companies in the state permission to drop a patient or to choose not to pay for their health care based on what is being referred to as a “conscience-based objection.” Concern was immediately raised regarding the risk of discrimination if HB1403 were to pass. The highly controversial HB1403 could leave the door open for a broad spectrum of discrimination against…

Florida to expand KidCare children’s health insurance but not Medicaid

March 31, 2023March 29, 2023 Logan B.

Health insurance - Children's health care

State legislature is working to broaden eligibility for the kids’ coverage but not their uninsured parents. Lawmakers in Florida are working to expand the eligibility for the KidCare children’s health insurance program, but advocates are pointing out that the state won’t be following in North Carolina’s footsteps, where there was recently a vote to broaden Medicaid’s reach to an estimated 600,000 North Carolinians. It is unlikely that Florida will make similar changes to expand the availability of Medicaid in 2023, as has been the case in a number of Republican…

Private health insurance customers get 70% Eli Lilly insulin drug discount

March 7, 2023March 6, 2023 H. Cutner

Private health insurance - Money - medical

The drugmaker will cap the monthly cost of the medication at $35 per month for those policyholders. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co. has announced that it will reduce the price tag on its most commonly prescribed insulin products for private health insurance customers. This discount is by 70 percent, with a cap at $35 per month at certain retail pharmacies. The price of the Lispro injection will be discounted to $25 per vial, starting on May 1, 2023. Lilly also announced that it would be reducing the price of…

California considers private health insurance for immigrants

March 2, 2023March 1, 2023 Nordstrom

Health insurance - Immigration - United States

The state has yet to determine if such a strategy can be achieved affordably for the demographic. Though many Californians whose income is too high to be eligible for Medi-Cal can receive subsidized health insurance through Covered California, an estimated 460,000 residents without legal status can’t purchase coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s state-run plans. Some lawmakers are seeking to create a bill to help close that gap for those uninsured Californians. “We’re going to need to figure out how to provide universal coverage for all who call this state…

Oregon is looking into a universal health care plan

February 24, 2023February 22, 2023 Julie Campbell

Universal health care - Welcome to Oregon Sign

The state is considering the creation of a nine-member board that would be responsible for its development. In Oregon, a panel of lawmakers recently received two days of public testimony at its Capitol in Salem regarding a proposed nine-member governance board that would be responsible for developing a universal health care plan to provide coverage for everyone in the state. The governance board under Senate Bill 704 would develop a single-payer system for the coverage. Under Senate Bill 704, the nine-member board would be responsible for the creation of a…

Millions of Americans could lose Medicaid health insurance as pandemic eases

February 16, 2023February 14, 2023 Nordstrom

As uninsured figures reach record lows, the expiration of pandemic policies is now looming. Health insurance experts are wondering if the massive gains in reducing the number of uninsured people there are living in the country will be lost as pandemic policies start coming to an end. The uninsured rate has dipped to yet a new low, having reached approximately 8 percent of the population. Some of that considerable achievement is the result of the policies put into place as a result of the pandemic. The government launched a range…