Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Even People With Employer-Sponsored Health Care--Held Up As The Gold Standard--Can Face Big Medical Bills
CNN: Americans With Employer Health Coverage Pay A Lot For Care
Employer health insurance, which covers half of Americans, is held up to be the gold standard of coverage. But even those with job-based plans can face big bills for doctors' visits and drugs, two new studies have found. Workers and their families who sought care shelled out an average of nearly $1,200 in out-of-pocket costs in 2017, according to a report published Tuesday by the Health Care Cost Institute. This spending, which includes deductibles, copays and co-insurance, is up nearly 15% from five years earlier. (Luhby, 2/12)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Spending For Employer Plans Hits Record
Healthcare spending has outpaced gross domestic product growth over the last five years, reaching an all-time high in 2017, according to a new report. Put simply, it's the prices, according to the Health Care Cost Institute's annual breakdown of the cost and utilization of services for those with employer-sponsored plans published Tuesday. (Kacik, 2/12)
In other news from the health industry —
USA Today: CVS Concept Store Introduced With Space For Health Care Services
Someday soon you may walk into your local CVS Pharmacy with your prescription in one hand and your yoga mat in the other. That's because CVS Health is testing a new concept store format as the company plans to shift more of its floor space to health care services. The drug store chain, one of America's largest retailers, is debuting three HealthHUB locations in Houston as it heads toward a future with less space devoted to retail goods like seasonal items. (Bomey, 2/13)
