Ten states have not expanded Medicaid, leaving an estimated 1.2 million adults without insurance, according to a July 27 KFF analysis. The rest of the country, including the District of Columbia, has expanded Medicaid, allowing adults who make up to…
Research & Analysis
Rejections of initial brand-name prescription attempts increased from 24.3% in 2018 to 40.7% in 2024, according to a July 9 JAMA study. Researchers from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the American Enterprise Institute led the study.…
The share of employers covering GLP-1s for both diabetes and weight loss has held steady at 36% year over year, according to a survey from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. The survey was conducted June 2 to June…
The Elevance Health Public Policy Institute found no association between county-level uptake of take-home methadone — used to treat opioid use disorder — and differences in drug overdose rates and behavioral health- or OUD-related emergency department visits. Published May 25…
Twenty-one percent of privately insured U.S. working-age adults had coverage denied for themselves or a family member over the span of one year. The Commonwealth Fund 2025 Affordability Survey, published June 4 and administered by research firm SSRS, heard from…
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Across three major commercial insurers, only 14% of procedure codes that triggered a prior authorization requirement at one insurer triggered it at all three, according to a study published May 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study examined…
The clinical value of GLP-1 receptor agonists is now well established. Multiple trials have linked them to not only meaningful reductions in body weight, but also improved outcomes in cardiovascular, kidney, liver, arthritis, and sleep apnea disorder. Policymakers have responded…
The share of Americans without health insurance was essentially unchanged in 2025, according to estimates from the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey published in May. The data offer a baseline snapshot of coverage before recent major policy changes, including the…
Employers are grappling with benefits costs, which have spiked nearly 8%, the steepest annual increase in more than 10 years when excluding pandemic-era fluctuations, according to Milliman’s 2026 Medical Index. The average American with an employer-sponsored health plan is projected…
Employers’ benefits teams are playing catch-up when it comes to AI, but they plan to embrace the technology more in the coming years, according to a May 19 survey from risk-management services provider WTW. WTW’s “2026 AI Use in Health…