On 21 September 2026, the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published preliminary laboratory payment data for 2027 and estimated that aligning Medicare rates more closely with private payer prices could save taxpayers approximately $1 billion a year. This is a proposal with a comment period, rather than an enacted schedule. Its significance for employer benefits lies in the relationship between public tariffs, commercial contracts and access

The May 2026 NBER Digest discusses Competition and Fraud in Health Care, Working Paper 34802, issued in February. The study examines Medicare procurement of durable medical equipment after a move from administered prices to competitive bidding. The authors find that fraudulent firms gained market share as legitimate providers exited, reflecting a cost advantage for fraudulent operators. The findings concern a specific setting. They do not establish the same outcome

The U.S. uninsured population is expected to decrease to 26.9 million individuals in 2021, according to a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports and titled Healthcare Insurance: United States. Factors contributing to the decline include continued improvements in the labor market, which helps individuals gain private coverage; uninsured persons reaching the age of 65 and qualifying for Medicare; continued gains in Medicaid enrollment; and some gains in the