Six months into this pandemic, there is still considerable uncertainty for businesses and institutions, including banks, as they eye budgets and try to make economic sense out of this new reality.
Median household income in Massachusetts rose by less than 1 percent in 2017, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data, while the state’s poverty rate was flat and there was an uptick in people without health insurance.
Unionized nurses at a Western Massachusetts hospital have reached a contract deal with management after about 18 months of contentious negotiations and a pair of one-day strikes.
House and Senate leaders said Tuesday they will try to quickly pass a bill filed by Gov. Charlie Baker, perhaps as soon as this week, in an effort to avoid steep health insurance premium spikes for nearly 1,000 retired teachers and elderly government retirees.
The new year will bring with it mixed financial news for Massachusetts employers, with $200 million in new health care assessments and unemployment insurance rate relief both scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1.
The Massachusetts Health Connector announced last week it would use the lower of two rate sets for some of its plans, but President Donald Trump’s decision hours later to end certain federal insurance subsidies means the Connector will use the higher rates after all.
Some consumers who buy their health insurance through the Massachusetts Health Connector could see their premiums rise by more than 25 percent next year if the federal government makes good on threats to end certain subsidies or if the fate of those subsidies remains unclear next week.
Advocates for people with disabilities are urging lawmakers to reject MassHealth reforms proposed by Gov. Charlie Baker, arguing such changes are better handled publicly than through a conference committee negotiating in secret.
Ahead of summer rate filings, the Division of Insurance and the Massachusetts Health Connector have for several weeks been working with insurance carriers to provide guidance in connection with the possible loss of “cost sharing reductions” that would affect federal subsidies for plans offered through the Connector.
A Kansas-based insurance company will pay more than $2.8 million to settle charges that it used deceptive and unlawful practices to sell health insurance to Massachusetts consumers, Attorney General Maura Healey said Tuesday.
A second Cabinet secretary said Tuesday that the administration is willing to back away from Gov. Charlie Baker’s controversial proposal to impose a $2,000 per employee assessment on companies that don’t meet certain health insurance requirements.
Companies that do not offer their employees health insurance would pay a $2,000 annual assessment per full-time worker to the state under a plan Gov. Charlie Baker plans to offer later this month to blunt the impact of escalating, enrollment-driven costs in the state’s Medicaid program, the State House News Service has learned.
Increasing the popularity of tiered health insurance plans could help drive down total medical spending, industry leaders agreed Tuesday, but hospitals and insurers aren’t necessarily on the same page about how to do it.
As customers brace for changes to their health insurance coverage and bills due to changes in eligibility for some members, rising premiums and a decline in subsidies, the Massachusetts Health Connector is preparing to soothe those “pain points” they expect could flare up during open enrollment.
