Healthcare benefits

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry is sounding the alarm that many children aren’t getting the dental care they need — even though the ACA includes pediatric dental care on its essential health benefits roster for small-group plans.

Individuals could pay more than twice as much for prescription drugs with certain exchange plans, as employers that provide health coverage gain another asset to leverage.

Offering dental coverage and encouraging employees to stick to yearly care regimens can boost employee well-being and overall productivity.

Eliminating drug plan copays for specific, targeted groups of patients is an easy administrative fix employers can implement to help reduce disparities in care, says the co-author of a study on reducing ethnic disparities in cardiovascular care.

Unbeknownst to your clients, prescription drugs are likely costing them a great deal. As their trusted adviser, here’s how you can help.

In a first look at pharmacy trends in public health insurance exchange plans, use of specialty medications was greater among exchange enrollees versus patients enrolled in a commercial health plan, according to new research released by Express Scripts.

Employees enrolled in a zero copay program for their diabetes and high cholesterol drugs had better adherence to those medications than employees not enrolled in the program, according to a recent retrospective case comparison study from Walgreens.

Pharmacy benefits are typically the most utilized benefit by plan members and one of the fastest-growing in terms of cost. Consequently, selecting the right pharmacy benefit manager is a critical decision in managing a plan and determining member satisfaction with that plan.

The number of Americans using medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rose 36% in five years, totaling more than 4.8 million privately insured individuals in 2012, according to a recent report from pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

A panel of voluntary carriers shares tricks of the trade at EBA’s Workplace Benefits Renaissance in Atlantic City, N.J.

Copayments and co-insurance fees have increased on average 34% compared with those of the pre-Affordable Care Act individual insurance market, according to the results of a new HealthPocket study released Thursday.

By ending the sale of tobacco products in its 7,600 pharmacies, CVS Caremark Corp. is redefining itself as a health-care provider in an environment in which millions of newly insured Americans will be looking for quick and convenient medical care.

A group of Catholic health and educational organizations don’t have to comply with a federal Affordable Care Act requirement to provide their employees with contraception coverage, a federal judge in New York ruled.

Expenditures in the $2.7 trillion U.S. health care system have doubled since 1980, growing to 18% of gross domestic product and leading to financial success for drugmakers, hospitals and insurers.

Statins will be recommended for almost 33 million Americans, about twice the number under previous guidelines. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer worldwide, accounting for 1 in 4 U.S. deaths.

Consumers are happier with brick-and-mortar pharmacies than with mail-order.

Health care fraud will come at employers at an alarming rate, in part because the Affordable Care Act opens insurance up to millions of people who have little or no experience buying health insurance, says fraud expert Chuck Whitlock.

Staff at Walgreens stores will direct customers who ask about the exchanges to the GoHealth Marketplace, where they can shop and compare health insurance plans, enroll and find other tools and information.

Customer satisfaction with traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies continues to outpace satisfaction with mail-order pharmacies, according to the J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Pharmacy Study.

Pharmacy benefit management specialists say that as prices skyrocket, more and more employers will narrow pharmacies and prescriptions for their employees.