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What We’re Reading: ACA Family Glitch Fix; Walgreens Buys Out CareCentrix; Bright Health Pulling Insurance Plans
Families may see lower costs for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA); Walgreens Boots Alliance will take full ownership of CareCentrix; Bright Health will stop offering individual and family health insurance plans in 9 states.
New Marketplace Tax Credit Rules for Families
The Treasury Department announced on Tuesday new rules that may provide tax breaks for families purchasing health insurance through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, the Associated Press reports. The new rule attempts to fix what’s referred to as the “family glitch,” in which the eligibility for tax credits was determined by the individual’s work-sponsored health insurance plan rather than the cost for the entire family. Families who were previously unable to qualify for the tax breaks can now apply for them, as long as they pay more than 9.5% of their income to monthly premiums.
Walgreens to Buy Remaining Stake in CareCentrix
Walgreens Boots Alliance plans to buy the remaining 45% stake of CareCentrix for approximately $392 million as part of its focus on primary care, postacute care, and home care, according to Fierce Healthcare. The move comes after Walgreens Boots Alliance had announced that it would purchase a stake in the company last October. That deal, which closed in late August, was just 1 of Walgreens’ acquisitions to strengthen its reach in health care, joining its recent purchase of the remaining stake in Shield Health Solutions. CareCentrix currently manages care for more than 19 million members in 7400 locations, offering services that include home nursing, providing durable medical equipment, home infusion, and in-home palliative care.
Bright Health No Longer Offering Insurance Plans in 9 States
Bright Health Group will stop offering individual Affordable Care Act and family health insurance plans in 9 states, leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans needing new insurance coverage for next year, according to Forbes. In addition, California and Florida remain the only states where Bright Health will continue to provide Medicare Advantage plans. Although the exact number of people who will be affected is unclear, Bright Health had previously projected 1 million total health plan enrollees for 2022.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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