Reimbursement

The conversation regarding rising healthcare costs in the U.S. continues to swell with tension and uncertainty. Why do U.S. healthcare costs continue to climb at rates far outpacing other industries?

Trying to bring affordable, painless lab tests to the masses, Theranos is breaking into a new market in collaboration with one of Pennsylvania's major insurers.

The testing company that could upend America's diagnostics market will partner with Capital BlueCross in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to bring the company's new direct-to-consumer blood testing options to the insurer's 1.3 million members.

The study, in the July issue of the policy journal Health Affairs, found that the average birth control pill user saved $255 in the year after the requirement took effect.

CMS plans to cut payment for 60-day care episodes by nearly $81, or 1.72 percent. The agency said the proposed rule would save the government $380 million.

Individual marketplace plans are in for huge rate increases next year, some fear, but the ACA markets so far suggest that many organizations, including provider-owned plans, are holding the line, according to researchers with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute.

Not only are many hospitals getting sizable federal drug discounts, some may be over-prescribing, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The case against Blue Shield of California's tax-exempt status is growing, presenting an additional $40 million to the tax bill, but also the possibility of more drastic state action.

With Aetna's market share set to balloon next year after its takeover of Humana wraps up, the insurer is trying to assuage health systems that might fear greater reimbursement pressure.

While individual premium proposals for 2016 are still pending, data from the ACA exchange markets offer a backdrop to next year's double digit increases.