Employers are increasingly focused on GLP-1 costs as pharmacy spending continues to rise, according to Business Group on Health’s 2027 Employer Healthcare Strategy Survey. The survey, conducted in June, included 127 employers representing 11 million covered lives. Here are seven…
Research & Analysis
The No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process has generated an estimated $22.4 billion in total costs over its first four years, according to an analysis published Aug. 26 in Health Affairs Forefront. The researchers from Georgetown University’s Center on…
Health insurers collectively lost $10.4 billion on underwriting in 2025, a dramatic deterioration from $1.7 billion the year before, according to a Mark Farrah Associates analysis. The Aug. 25 analysis compared 2024 and 2025 profitability across four segments: individual, employer-group,…
Consumers searching for health coverage online are being aggressively routed toward limited benefit products and away from ACA marketplace plans, according to a secret shopper study from Georgetown University published Aug. 13. The study comes as marketplace enrollment has declined…
There’s widespread gaps in Medicare knowledge among both current beneficiaries and adults approaching eligibility for the program, even as most enrollees express high confidence in their understanding of the program, according to a new eHealth survey. The findings, released Aug.…
Advertisement
The average end-of-year balances for health savings accounts reached $5,532 in 2024, up from $4,747 the year prior. However, that balance fell far below out-of-pocket maximums. In 2025, out-of-pocket maximums for HSA-eligible health plans were $8,300 for individual coverage and…
A single payer universal healthcare system would reduce U.S. national health expenditures by more than $1 trillion and avert 114,000 deaths annually, according to a new study from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health. The study, published July…
Prior authorization data is now public — but it is not giving much to work with. CMS’ Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule from 2024 focused on easing prior authorization across government-affiliated healthcare programs. Involved payers now have to report…
Self-insured employers often face a web of fees from their third-party health plan administrator that extend beyond the base rate and can be unclear at the time of contract signing, according to a study published Aug. 13 in Health Affairs…
Fifty-six percent of employer clients of “Big Three” pharmacy benefit managers — CVS Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Rx — are thinking about switching in the next one to three years. The 2026 “Pulse of the Purchaser”…