Health Headlines for Thursday, September 27
80,000 people died of the flu last winter in US
CNBC
The U.S. government estimates that 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter — the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades.
Private Medicare Plans Faulted by Watchdog Over Denials of Care
Bloomberg
A new federal watchdog report warns that privately run Medicare health plans used by millions of older Americans may be improperly denying patients medical care.
Federal employee health-care premiums to rise 1.5 percent on average for 2019
Washington Post
The enrollee share of premiums in the health-care program for federal employees and retirees will increase by 1.5 percent on average in 2019, although there will be decreases in some plans, including in the two Blue Cross and Blue Shield options that account for nearly two-thirds of enrollees, the government announced Wednesday.
Why nearly 4 in 10 people on Medicare skip their doctor’s visits
CNBC
Medicare can help defray retirees’ health-care costs, but it’s no panacea. Some beneficiaries in the program are delaying medical attention due to the expense.
Small business owners say health care costs is biggest issue they face: survey
The Hill
Small Business Owners say that the most important issue affecting them is the cost of health care, according to the National Small Business Association’s annual Politics of Small Business Survey.
The unclear benefits of drug price coalitions
Axios
Each of the predominant health care consulting firms — Aon, Mercer and Willis Towers Watson — has its own prescription drug coalition made up of employers.