"The No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution system is expensive, slow and usually favors the health care providers." buff.ly/T94GYvQ #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

I’m looking forward to the conversation about price transparency and fiduciary responsibilities at today’s SIIA conference buff.ly/p5z6Rnc #healthcare #healthecon #healthpolicy

Patients are suing insurers over 'ghost networks.' buff.ly/IlHzaeM. Research by @publicagenda.bsky.social explores how challenges finding in-network #healthcare providers affect people's mental health, relationships, work, physical health, and finances buff.ly/B54i3ek #healthpolicy #healthecon

"Cancer treatment costs declined as much as 8.2% in cities where most hospitals published complete pricing data for oncology services." www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S109... #healthcare #healthecon #healthpolicy

Departments of HHS, Labor, and Treasury extended the public comment period for the Transparency in Coverage (TiC) proposed rule to March 2, 2026. The rule can be accessed here: buff.ly/tsApCwF. The notice can be accessed here: buff.ly/vaHUgMh #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

"Report shows weak hospital and health plan price transparency across 10 US markets" buff.ly/ljP6SJU #healthcare #healthecon #healthpolicy

I'm looking forward to this conversation about health plan sponsors' and vendors' fiduciary duties at the Self-Insurance Institute of America's price transparency forum on Feb 26 www.siia.org/i4a/pages/in... #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

Like this anonymous NFL player, many people don't know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. This new @pewresearch.org explainer answers common questions about Puerto Rico and its people: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

"The cost of health care, not food or rent, is now Americans’ top worry," via @washingtonpost.com buff.ly/jDZwwxJ #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

HIV/AIDS activists heralded approval of a new twice-yearly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication last year, but these celebrations were tempered by insurers’ reluctance to cover its exorbitant cost. In the months since, payers are coming around, and more patients have access

Jersey City's new mayor is about to save the city $30 million while cutting #healthinsurance costs for about 5,000 city employees and retirees by roughly 8%. That's $30 million to spend on schools, transportation, and other priorities buff.ly/UVi5F7M #healthpolicy #healthecon #NewJersey #healthcare

Court rules pharmacies can pursue racketeering claims against major PBMs buff.ly/zfd6sGq #healthcare #healthpolicy

In December, Colorado was granted authority to monitor whether carriers are meeting state and federal TiC data rules, and issue penalties, fines, and other enforcement actions on carriers who are not compliant buff.ly/D1Jjxuj #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, AJMC spoke with David Muhlestein about his recent articles highlighting the completeness of Transparency in Coverage (TIC) files and ghost rates in TiC files buff.ly/J0W55Od #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

The CEOs of UnitedHealth, CVS, Elevance, Cigna and Blue Shield of California are testifying at two House committees today. Follow along with live updates from @mcauliff.bsky.social and @nonatc.bsky.social on @modernhealthcare.bsky.social (registration required but no paywall) bit.ly/4pO3apr

"In 2022, 32BJ redesigned its health plan to exclude NYP from its network. That decision, in combination with benefit design strategies that incentivized members to go to lower-cost providers and centers of excellence, has saved 32BJ $200 million over four years." buff.ly/1mY4gkf #healthcare

"Florida proposes cutting eligibility for an AIDS drug program, causing panic. The state would also eliminate coverage of two widely relied-on HIV medicines" buff.ly/qshn6Pw #healthcare #healthpolicy

A new law lets Alaska Division of Insurance license and supervise PBMs and TPAs, i.e. the "third-party administrators" that help employers' self-insured health plans and government health plans administer health benefits buff.ly/EyYIKAO #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

You probably used quite a bit of January’s #LipidoftheMonth over the holidays, especially if you ate a lot of rich food. lipidmaps.org/updates/lipi...

House Republicans said they are summoning top #healthinsurance executives to testify later this month as part of a series of hearings about #healthcare affordability buff.ly/SumfQx7 #healthpolicy #healthecon

CivicaScript announces the availability of a low-cost insulin and a biosimilar for chronic inflammatory conditions in the US buff.ly/11hewBP #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon #pharma

WalletHub analyzed prices of 5 common #healthcare goods and services in 100 large US relative to median household income. Their 5 most expensive cities for the goods and services included in their analysis are Detroit, Cleveland, Newark, Toledo & Birmingham buff.ly/GGqNK10 #healthpolicy #healthecon

Great summary of state laws governing #healthcare that are taking effect in 2026 buff.ly/KiXHF4P #healthpolicy

Health plan price data could get easier to use www.benefitspro.com/2025/12/23/e... #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

CMS said TiC data “has been difficult to access due to oversized files, duplicative data, and information that could not be easily compared across the health insurance landscape“ www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/cms-pro... #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

CMS proposes tightening insurer price transparency requirements buff.ly/7g0kEfb #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

"David Muhlestein is out with another study that broadly finds insurers aren’t even publishing all the necessary data for the right things, which technically violates the law," via @bobjherman.bsky.social in @statnews.com buff.ly/X6xYl2E Full study at buff.ly/luPZM4l #healthcare #healthpolicy

25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.

Research in AJMC Population Health, Equity & Outcomes "asserts that three of the country’s largest health insurers — Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare — have not fully complied with federal price transparency rules designed to help employers control #healthcare costs"

Payers called out for price transparency failures: A study rates Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare on compliance with Transparency in Coverage requirements, finding major gaps among all three major U.S. payers buff.ly/IHMYnur #healthcare #healthecon #healthpolicy

Three of the nation's biggest health insurers have provided an incomplete picture of their negotiated prices in transparency data that's required by federal rules, via Axios buff.ly/qkpuJPf #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

Insurers not fully complying with price transparency rules, via Becker's buff.ly/BiFWx7N #healthcare #healthecon #healthpolicy

Insurers are required to a monthly files listing their negotiated rates with every #healthcare provider. New research finds that UnitedHealthcare is only reporting prices for 8% of hospital inpatient services & Cigna is only reporting 20% of prices for hospital outpatient services

Health insurers' Transparency in Coverage (TiC) data is a powerful resource for understanding and controlling #healthcare costs. But new research from David Muhlestein & Yuvraj Pathak finds that some of the largest insurers are posting incomplete TiC data. buff.ly/luPZM4l #healthpolicy #healthecon

Johnson & Johnson ERISA suit over drug costs dismissed by federal judge, who ruled that plaintiffs failed to show they had standing to allege that the company had breached its fiduciary duty. Plaintiffs were given 30 days to file a third amended complaint. buff.ly/Q7cyH58 #healthcare #healthpolicy

December’s Lipid of the Month, alpha-pinene, one of the compounds in conifers which contribute to the distinctive pine forest smell

There are several jobs open at the Peterson Center on Healthcare & the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in communications, grant operations, and programs:

I volunteer with Neighbors Together because their model is powerful and unique: They provide people with delicious food, connect them to housing and social services, and advocate for policies to end hunger and poverty. I hope you will consider donating at

Ghost rates in #healthcare payers' Transparency in Coverage (TiC) data can significantly increase the size of data files and make data cleaning far more difficult than necessary academic.oup.com/healthaffair... #healthpolicy #healthecon

buff.ly/FNoOUbd 💕

Ghost rates 👻 negotiated rates for services that providers never perform👻 make insurers' Transparency in Coverage (TiC) files very large & difficult to analyze. New research shows nearly 92% of negotiated rates in TiC data are useless ghost rates buff.ly/lAMotWZ #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

Dermatologist don't do heart transplants. But the transparency in coverage files that insurers release often have rates for providers that do not provide services. David Muhlestein quantifies ghost rates in TiC in Health Affairs Scholar buff.ly/lAMotWZ #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthinsurance

"We’ve been telling Americans to prioritize low-fat dairy products “based on almost no evidence” showing they’re better for health, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and the director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University." Amen to that!

"New Jersey's largest health insurer agreed to pay $100 million to resolve allegations that the health-insurance company had ripped off taxpayers by overpaying for care, in a pact made public on Friday." buff.ly/LPzsdG5 #healthcare #healthinsurance #healthpolicy #newjersey

Since 2017, the Lown Institute has held its annual Shkreli Awards to shine a light on egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction in #healthcare. Ahead of this year’s awards on December 11, they checking in to see what their most disreputable alums have been up to

Legal immigrants face loss of Obamacare help, threatening insurance markets

New analysis from 46brooklyn Research raises questions about Cigna's role in setting #pharmaceutical prices, as its subsidiary Quallent Pharmaceuticals sells generics at prices that skew higher than many competing suppliers buff.ly/YZJjdmy #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

How are states using #hospital price caps to save money? buff.ly/nyBc2hH #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon

Looking forward to this Health Affairs event on employers' and unions' perspectives on rising #healthcare prices and the role of middlemen buff.ly/Cf8kLDe #healthpolicy #healthecon #medsky

“Sixty-three thousand dollars for a broken ankle and a cut to the knee, with no head injury or internal damage... just to stay there overnight.” @kffhealthnews.org