UnitedHealth Group Inc on Tuesday raised its 2019 earnings forecast for the third time this year, bolstered by higher revenue at its unit that manages pharmacy benefits as well as its core health insurance business. Shares of the company, which also beat Wall Street profit estimates for the quarter, rose 2.9% to $227 in premarket… Continue reading UnitedHealth Raises Profit View as Revenue from Pharmacy Benefits Grows
Tag: health insurance
With Health Care Costs Projected to Rise Another 5% in 2020, Employers Look to New Strategies to Control Costs
Curbing the cost of health care and increasing its affordability remain the top priorities for almost all employers over the next three years (93%), according to the 24th annual Best Practices in Health Care Employer Survey by Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. Yet nearly two in three (63%) employers… Continue reading With Health Care Costs Projected to Rise Another 5% in 2020, Employers Look to New Strategies to Control Costs
About 25% of Total U.S. Health Care Spending Is Waste: Study
In a Special Communication published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers from Humana Inc. and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine estimated the cost of waste in the United States (U.S.) health system. The study found that approximately 25 percent of health care spending can be characterized as waste –… Continue reading About 25% of Total U.S. Health Care Spending Is Waste: Study
Cost of Employer-Provided Health Coverage Passes $20,000 a Year
The average total cost of employer-provided health coverage passed $20,000 for a family plan this year, according to a new survey, a landmark that will likely resonate politically as health care has become an early focus of the presidential campaign. Annual premiums rose 5% to hit $20,576 for an employer-provided family plan in 2019, according… Continue reading Cost of Employer-Provided Health Coverage Passes $20,000 a Year
Buoyed by the Largest Projected Bonuses in Four Decades, Employees Should See Pay Climb in 2020
Salaries are projected to rise in 2020, and U.S. employees should also expect to bring home more in bonuses next year, according to new data released today by Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Aon’s 2019 U.S. Salary Increase Survey of 1,216 U.S.… Continue reading Buoyed by the Largest Projected Bonuses in Four Decades, Employees Should See Pay Climb in 2020
Health Insurers Set to Expand Offerings Under the ACA
Insurers are expanding their Affordable Care Act plan offerings for next year, with the once-troubled business now generating profits, even as the overall individual-insurance market has shrunk. Oscar Insurance Corp. is the latest to announce its expected growth for 2020, adding six new states, including Pennsylvania and Georgia, to its current roster of nine. Insurers… Continue reading Health Insurers Set to Expand Offerings Under the ACA
Cigna Seeks Sale of Group Benefits Insurance Business: Sources
U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp is exploring a sale of its group benefits insurance business, which could be valued at as much as $6 billion, four people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The unit for sale offers disability insurance as well as life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage to clusters of company… Continue reading Cigna Seeks Sale of Group Benefits Insurance Business: Sources
Oscar Health Lands Berkshire Hathaway Deal Ahead of Obamacare Expansion
Oscar Health reported an “underwriting profit” of $128 million and disclosed a key new reinsurance partner as the health plan prepares to expand deeper into the business of providing individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Oscar, which made its name as a startup focused on providing Obamacare coverage, Thursday reported a second-quarter “underwriting profit… Continue reading Oscar Health Lands Berkshire Hathaway Deal Ahead of Obamacare Expansion
Despite Calls to Start Over, US Health System Covers 90%
America’s much-maligned health care system is covering 9 out of 10 people, a fact that hasn’t stopped the 2020 presidential candidates from refighting battles about how to provide coverage, from Bernie Sanders’ call for replacing private insurance with a government plan to President Donald Trump’s pledge to erase the Affordable Care Act and start over.… Continue reading Despite Calls to Start Over, US Health System Covers 90%
Bipartisan House Coalition Strikes Against Health Law’s Cadillac Tax
The House of Representatives is poised to vote to repeal the “Cadillac tax” on high-cost employer health insurance, removing a piece of the Affordable Care Act that never took effect. Wednesday’s scheduled vote could deliver a victory to labor unions and employers that teamed up against the tax. On the losing side: deficit hawks and… Continue reading Bipartisan House Coalition Strikes Against Health Law’s Cadillac Tax