West Michigan’s cost advantages for health care services may be eroding. According to the annual Health Check report from Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business, treating coronary artery disease in West Michigan cost an average of $25,895 per member two years ago, an increase of 22 percent. That compares to an average per-memberRead more about Health care costs continue to rise in Grand Rapids compared to peer cities[…]

Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals company has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that a company it acquired in 2014 engaged in anti-competitive behavior to preserve its monopoly on a $34,000-a-vial infantile spasm medicine. Read the Article

Lansing – Michigan residents and schools will have an easier time obtaining life-saving medication to reverse opioid drug overdoses under a series of bipartisan bills Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed into law Wednesday. The House legislation allows pharmacists to dispense opioid antagonists without a prescription under a standing order from the state’s chief medical executive.Read more about New Michigan laws boost access to opioid overdose drugs[…]

MINNEAPOLIS – Internal pharmacy records obtained by KARE 11, along with two newly filed class-action lawsuits, raise questions about whether some popular insurance plans are overcharging customers for prescription medicines and pocketing the profits. What’s more, documents obtained during KARE 11’s year long investigation reveal that so-called “gag clauses” often prevent local pharmacists from disclosingRead more about Who’s profiting from prescription overcharges?[…]

By Brendan Pierson UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) has been sued by three customers who accused the largest U.S. health insurer of charging co-payments for prescription drugs that were higher than their actual cost and pocketing the difference. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Minnesota by three UnitedHealth customers, seeks to represent a nationwideRead more about Customers sue UnitedHealth over prescription drug co-pay costs[…]

NEW NATIONAL POLL: Patients Concerned About Uncertain Costs and Quality of Coverage 7 in 10 report that they or someone they know had trouble using their health insurance in the past year, insurance premiums top list of family budget concerns Washington, D.C. (September 13, 2016) The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released aRead more about NEW NATIONAL POLL: Patients Concerned About Uncertain Costs and Quality of Coverage[…]

By Randy Tucker The average monthly premiums increased by $4 last year for Ohio customers buying subsidized health insurance under the Affordable Care Act through the state’s federally run health insurance marketplace, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). And the vast majority of Ohio marketplace’s customersRead more about Rise in health premiums will be muted by subsidies[…]

Seth Ginsberg Blaming pharmaceutical companies for high drug prices is a bipartisan affair. If lawmakers like Sen. Chuck Grassley want to hold the responsible culprits accountable, they need to look at all sectors of the health care industry, including the insurance companies. The Affordable Care Act should curb an insurer’s profit maximization strategy, which hurtsRead more about Health insurers deserve blame for higher drug costs[…]

By DREW ALTMAN Drew Altman is president and chief executive officer of the Kaiser Family Foundation. He is on Twitter: @drewaltman. With 91% of the population now covered by some form of health insurance, and the coverage rate higher in some states, the next big debate in health policy could be about the adequacy ofRead more about The Next Big Debate in Health Care[…]

Employers in Ohio and across the country continue to shift more of the cost of health insurance onto their employees, based on the findings of a new survey. Learn More. See The Study.