Reimbursement

Though still a major source of middle class jobs, healthcare companies, including consolidating insurers and nonprofits, may need to find a way to afford raises for their lowest-paid employees.

Aviation giant Boeing has added Roper St. Francis Health Alliance in Charleston, South Carolina and Mercy in St. Louis to its health plan, according to a Boeing spokesman, as the company continues to grow its in-house benefits network.

"Are you pregnant?" It's a topic employers have avoided since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. But advocates fear these long-standing protections could be undermined by some workplace wellness programs.

With giant commercial health insurers announcing plans to merge, and experts predicting more consolidation, healthcare providers will be weighing their options when it comes to price negotiations.

Another insurer is embracing the idea of paying for direct primary care, sponsoring new clinics and a new kind of medical practice.

People enrolling in public health insurance exchanges are more willing to switch plans, placing pressure on insurers to continually win over shoppers based on price, product and service, according to a new report by Deloitte.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the State of Rhode Island are contracting with a Medicare-Medicaid plan to provide integrated benefits to approximately 30,000 eligible enrollees.

When Michael Kamins opened the letter from his health plan he was enraged by what he encountered, a part of critics see as medical necessity's "last hurrah."

The companies said the deal will make them better able to improve their post-acute care services and create better value of care for their partner hospitals and clinicians, which in the age of value-based reimbursements will improve bottom lines for all involved.

Billions of dollars have been spent on 90 deals over the past decade. See which five companies are responsible.