Nobel Laureates Urge Senate to Turn Down Kennedy’s NominationAbout health insurance/insurers “More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
The letter, obtained by The New York Times, marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice, according to Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, who helped draft the letter. The group tries to stay out of politics whenever possible, he said.”
On the other hand: The pharma industry isn’t lobbying against RFK Jr.’s nomination for a top health role
About health insurance
US Judge Blocks Biden Healthcare Rule for DACA Immigrants in Some States “A [Republican, Trump-appointed] U.S. judge in North Dakota has blocked the Biden administration from requiring 19 Republican-led states to provide health insurance coverage to immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.”
More in U.S. See Health Coverage as Government Responsibility “Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults, the highest percentage in more than a decade, say it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage. The figure had slipped to as low as 42% in 2013 during the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA's) healthcare exchanges. It has been as high as 69% in 2006.”
Total premiums (combined employer costs and employee contributions) were generally lower for small firms than large firms in 2023.
Despite lower total premiums, workers at small businesses faced higher costs on average for their share of premiums. Small-firm employees in most states contributed a larger share of the premium for family coverage than large-firm employees did.
The average annual family premium contribution for workers nationally in 2023 was $7,529 at small firms and $6,796 at large firms.
In nearly all states, small-firm employees have larger deductibles than large-firm employees. The average annual family deductible nationally in 2023 was $5,074 at small companies and $3,547 at large ones.
Within the same state, workers often pay considerably more in premium contributions depending on the size of their employer. For example, in Massachusetts, those at small firms spent an average of $12,604 annually on premiums for family plans in 2023, compared to $6,933 for workers at large firms.”