Consumer Driven Health Care

When the public health emergency ends on May 11, it will institute sweeping changes across the health care system, from hospitals and testing labs to treatment for people recovering from addiction.

Employers, faced with high costs in treating obesity-related chronic conditions, may want to consider the importance of providing access to the emerging weight loss medications, particularly with more options soon available.

The feds sued to halt the deal earlier this year, calling it anticompetitive because Change, which would be merged with UnitedHealth's data and consulting business Optum Insight, has access to data from insurer customers.

The agency has increased employer mandate penalties under the Affordable Care Act for non-compliant large employers (50+ employees) that fail to offer affordable health coverage to 95% of its staff.

As the legality of a 15-week ban on abortions is being debated in court, the state's legislature is considering a bill which would allow abortions past six weeks only when the mother's life was in danger, or in cases of rape or incest.

Because of the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare will have the ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices with manufacturers - and will release the negotiated fair prices for the first 10 drugs September 1.