Health insurers will probably have lower health care expenditures in 2020 and 2021 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis from Willis Towers Watson. However, the white paper emphasizes that substantial risk is still possible and says plan sponsors need to take proactive steps to blunt the future impact of deferred care, AIS Health reported.

The policy environment could change suddenly and dramatically depending on the outcome of California v. Texas, a suit that could lead the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and the presidential election.

Since at least the 2017 saga when Republicans tried to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one of the law’s most visible — and politically charged — components has become its protections for people with preexisting conditions. Now, with the makeup of the Supreme Court slated to shift, some experts believe those same provisions are the most at risk from being struck down alongside the law's now-defunct individual mandate, AIS Health reported.

But that begs the question: Would health insurers actually want to go back to a pre-ACA world?

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for Merkel cell carcinoma treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

To help make sense of this new research, MMIT's team of experts analyzes the data and summarizes the key findings for you. The following are brief highlights. To read the full piece, including payer coverage, drug competition and prescriber trends, click here.

This summer, a drug called Tecartus (brexucabtagene autoleucel) became the third chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy approved by the FDA. CAR-T therapies, which use a patient's genetically modified immune cells to target and fight cancer cells, are a cutting-edge type of treatment that comes with eye-popping price tags, ranging from $373,000 to $475,000. However, a new report from OptumRx highlights an "industry trend to watch" that could eventually provide some relief to payers worried about how to finance CAR-T treatments, AIS Health reported.

Currently, CAR-T therapies' high cost is at least in part attributable to the "labor-intensive and time-consuming" manufacturing process for such drugs, stated the UnitedHealth Group-owned PBM's Drug Pipeline Insights Report for the third quarter of 2020. Essentially, T-cells are taken from a patient, treated and multiplied in a lab, and reinfused into the same patient — a completely personalized process known as autologous therapy.

The Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — which could tip the scales in favor of striking down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — was hardly welcome news for health insurers during a year when a pandemic and a presidential election are already fueling high levels of uncertainty. However, industry analysts and legal experts say there are plenty of reasons not to hit the panic button just yet, AIS Health reported.

"This definitely increases the chance of the Supreme Court striking down the full ACA. But we're going from a pretty low likelihood base," says Chris Sloan at Avalere Health. "The odds are still really stacked against anything materially changing for the ACA."

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for sickle cell disease treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

To help make sense of this new research, MMIT's team of experts analyzes the data and summarizes the key findings for you. The following are brief highlights. To read the full piece, including payer coverage, drug competition and prescriber trends, click here.

Given that enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges has basically flatlined, one might not expect insurers to view the exchanges as a growth opportunity. But recent moves by some of the country's largest payers suggest otherwise.

Centene Corp. said on Sept. 11 that it will widen its ACA marketplace footprint by selling plans in "nearly 400 new counties" next year. The company will increase its presence in 13 of the states where it already sells plans, plus enter two new states: Michigan and New Mexico.

The climate for payer mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has cooled substantially at a national level ever since the collapse of the proposed deals between Anthem, Inc. and Cigna Corp. and between Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. However, consolidation in the provider sector has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as such firms grapple with the rapid collapse of fee-for-service revenue, AIS Health reported.

The breakdown of Anthem's bid to acquire Cigna resulted in a public spat and dueling lawsuits over Cigna’s attempt to exit their agreement before exhausting the firms' option to appeal a federal ruling against the transaction. On Aug. 31, the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that neither firm had to pay damages to the other over the failed deal.