Employers

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Industry Committee filed a legal challenge against the Minnesota Department of Commerce, arguing that Minnesota’s Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Licensure and Regulation Act illegally interfered with employer-sponsored health plans by restricting plan design options and increasing costs.

This study examined employers’ understanding of rebate guarantees, dependency upon rebate dollars, and the role that pharmaceutical rebates or employer benefits consultants play in their pharmacy benefits manager selection.

CDC advisory group votes to add COVID-19 vaccines to the pediatric immunization schedule; a new report says workplaces can be hazardous to the mental and physical health of Americans; drug makers are lobbying to ease the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Marking Mental Health Awareness month, stakeholders involved in the delivery of behavioral health care services discuss current efforts underway—spearheaded by the novel 988 emergency hotline—to address the growing mental health crisis.

Lower-salary employees in high-deductible health plans underutilize outpatient care and overutilize emergency departments.

Key opinion leaders addressed cost, accessibility, and other barriers limiting use of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP), and how employers can help drive preventive care and precision medicine through CGP.

Findings of a survey of large employers indicate that utilization management tools are ineffective in controlling health care costs for employees and may lead to barriers to treatment.

Survey results demonstrate an opportunity to incorporate good practices for high-deductible health plans that can help enrollees maximize value and better navigate their benefits and treatment options.

A webinar by the National Cancer Treatment Alliance discussed current use and diagnostic/therapeutic benefits of comprehensive genomic profiling in oncology, as well as recommendations for employers and benefit consultants considering biomarker testing.

AccessHope is a program that allows patients and community oncologists to tap into the expertise of City of Hope, often through electronic sharing of records so the patient does not have to travel.

Part 1 of a 2-part webinar series by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions addressed issues in health care coverage affordability and how equitable health benefits and value-based design can reduce cost while improving employee engagement.

Kimberly Westrich, MA, vice president of health services research at the National Pharmaceutical Council, discusses opportunities for growth regarding value-based benefits.

Kimberly Westrich, MA, vice president of health services research at the National Pharmaceutical Council, discusses value-based benefit design strategies for high-deductible health plans.

Key opinion leaders discuss the state of mental health in the US workforce, persistent unmet needs, and efforts to improve coverage and uptake of behavioral health services.

Theresa Juday, RPh, director, Specialty Product Development, CVS Health, discusses the indirect and direct cost burden associated with chronic insomnia.

Daniel Wolfson, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the ABIM Foundation, speaks on factors influencing mistrust of the health care system and efforts to improve quality care.

Findings presented at the 2021 American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting showed that patients with concomitant psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) reported greater incidence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, as well as a higher likelihood of work inability than those with only psoriasis.

Appeals court affirms decision to place a hold on the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large employers; rising Medicare premiums linked with controversial Alzheimer drug; 3 states expand COVID-19 booster shot eligibility to all adults.

Pfizer and BioNTech expect to seek emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 booster vaccine in all adults 18 years and older; the Biden administration urges appeals court to not block employer vaccine mandate; nearly 8 in 10 Americans believe or are unsure of false COVID-19 information.

Rajesh Rajpal, MD, chief medical officer, global head of clinical medical affairs, Johnson & Johnson Vision, speaks on the timeline of recovery for patients with cataract undergoing corrective surgery.

Provision of enhanced access to behavioral health services by a large employer to its employees is associated with reductions in all-cause care utilization and cost.

The Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society issued guiding principles for employers on designing optimal work shift durations in the workplace, which address risk factors, countermeasures, and shared decision-making implications.

Michael Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, speaks on the growth of telehealth and value-based care amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the influence they will have on care delivery strategies in the years to come.

This study examines the ability of self-insured employers to negotiate hospital prices and the relationship between hospital prices and employer market power in the United States.