Latest news with #BCBS
Coin Geek
23-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Bank of England set to introduce stringent rules in 2026
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The Bank of England (BoE) plans to introduce more restrictive rules on banks' exposure to digital assets by 2026 to protect financial stability, according to its top executive. During the 'Risk Live Europe' event in London, David Bailey, executive director of prudential policy at the BoE, said that the United Kingdom is exploring stricter regulations around digital asset exposure. 'There are also examples where it might be more appropriate to start more towards the restrictive end of the spectrum, while evidence is gathered to see if standards can be relaxed over time,' said Bailey during his speech at the risk management and financial markets conference, as reported by CoinDesk. 'The prudential treatment of banks' exposures to cryptoassets, and specifically those with features associated with heightened price volatility and where investors could lose the entirety of their investment, is an example in this space.' Bailey also said that the U.K.'s plans would be 'informed' by the guidelines set out by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's (BCBS) disclosure framework for banks' exposure to digital assets. The Committee—an international body that sets global standards for the regulation and supervision of banks to promote financial stability and strengthen banking systems—finalized its framework for banks' 'disclosure of cryptoasset exposures' in July of last year and agreed to implement the standard by January 1, 2026. The final disclosure framework includes a set of standardized tables and templates covering banks' digital asset exposures, requiring banks to disclose qualitative information on their digital asset-related activities and quantitative information on the capital and liquidity requirements for their digital asset exposures. 'The use of common disclosure requirements aims to enhance information availability and support market discipline,' said the BCBS when announcing the final framework. Additionally, the Basel Committee recommended that banks only allow 1% of their investments to be in digital assets, a factor that likely plays into the BoE's mooted, more restrictive rules on digital asset exposure. The BoE's latest pronouncement on digital asset policy comes as HM Treasury and the U.K.'s finance sector regulators are speeding up progress on the country's broader digital asset regulatory framework. UK regulatory progress In April, the Treasury published high-level draft regulations for cryptoassets and stablecoins. Titled the 'future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets,' it officially delegated detailed rulemaking authority of the majority of the digital asset space to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), except for systemic stablecoins, which fall under the purview of the BoE and the U.K.'s banking regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority. It also outlined several high-level digital asset activities that would bring an entity within U.K. regulation, placing foreign issuers of stablecoins outside this scope. This was followed, in May, by the FCA—the U.K.'s top finance sector regulator—publishing two consultation papers, one on 'stablecoin issuance and cryptoasset custody,' and the other on 'a prudential regime for cryptoasset firms.' The consultation paper on stablecoin issuance and cryptoasset custody aims to ensure regulated stablecoins maintain their value and that customers are provided with clear information on how the backing assets are managed. Meanwhile, the consultation paper on a prudential regime for cryptoasset firms seeks to establish rules to develop a safe, competitive, and sustainable digital asset sector. However, all of this regulatory progress must be taken in context with the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, indicating that the country plans to work with the United States to support innovation across the digital asset industry. In an April 29 statement, Reeves set out the U.K.'s stool by saying she aims to make the country the 'best place in the world to innovate.' The Chancellor also said that the U.K. and U.S. would use their upcoming joint 'Financial Regulatory Working Group' to 'continue engagement to support the use and responsible growth of digital assets.' Aligning with President Donald Trump's pro-crypto regulatory agenda would signal a shift away from the more safety-first and consumer protection approach that has characterized how digital assets have been treated thus far in the U.K. under the financial promotion regime—currently the only major piece of regulation in the country that deals directly with the digital asset sector. Watch: Richard Baker on engineering a smarter financial world with blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Blues vs. Non-Blues 5-Year Enrollment Trends Analyzed by Mark Farrah Associates
CANONSBURG, Pa., June 10, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health insurance companies provided fully insured coverage for approximately 186.5 million people in 2024, an increase of over 12.3 million from 2020. Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) association members, parent organizations, and their subsidiaries insured about 37.5% of the total health insurance market. In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), examined health insurance enrollment changes in key segments for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and Non-BCBS companies between 2020 and 2024. Some highlights include: Individual enrollment for BCBS companies increased 36.6% over the last 5 years, and non-BCBS companies reported a 106.1% increase during the same period. Fully insured Group enrollment, which includes the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), continued to experience decreases throughout the 5-year timeframe for both Blues and non-Blues plans. During the 5-year period, Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment experienced a 32.8% increase for BCBS plans, and non-BCBS MA enrollment saw a 32.3% increase. Total 4Q24 Medicaid enrollment for BCBS plans was over 15.2 million and nearly 62.5 million for non-BCBS companies. To read the FREE full text of "Five Year Health Enrollment Trends Comparing Blues & Non-Blues Plans", visit the MFA Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website. Healthcare Business Strategy is a FREE brief that presents analysis of important issues and developments affecting healthcare business today. If you would like to be added to our email distribution list, please submit your email to the "Subscribe to MFA Briefs" on our website. About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, 5500 Employer Health PLUS, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the brochures available under the Our Products section of the website ( or call 724-338-4100. Follow us on LinkedIn! View source version on Contacts Mark Farrah AssociatesAnn Marie Wolfe, amwolfe@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
10-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Blues vs. Non-Blues 5-Year Enrollment Trends Analyzed by Mark Farrah Associates
CANONSBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health insurance companies provided fully insured coverage for approximately 186.5 million people in 2024, an increase of over 12.3 million from 2020. Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) association members, parent organizations, and their subsidiaries insured about 37.5% of the total health insurance market. In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), examined health insurance enrollment changes in key segments for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and Non-BCBS companies between 2020 and 2024. Some highlights include: Individual enrollment for BCBS companies increased 36.6% over the last 5 years, and non-BCBS companies reported a 106.1% increase during the same period. Fully insured Group enrollment, which includes the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), continued to experience decreases throughout the 5-year timeframe for both Blues and non-Blues plans. During the 5-year period, Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment experienced a 32.8% increase for BCBS plans, and non-BCBS MA enrollment saw a 32.3% increase. Total 4Q24 Medicaid enrollment for BCBS plans was over 15.2 million and nearly 62.5 million for non-BCBS companies. To read the FREE full text of " Five Year Health Enrollment Trends Comparing Blues & Non-Blues Plans", visit the MFA Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website. Healthcare Business Strategy is a FREE brief that presents analysis of important issues and developments affecting healthcare business today. If you would like to be added to our email distribution list, please submit your email to the " Subscribe to MFA Briefs" on our website. Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, 5500 Employer Health PLUS, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the brochures available under the Our Products section of the website ( or call 724-338-4100. Follow us on LinkedIn!
Associated Press
10-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Blues vs. Non-Blues 5-Year Enrollment Trends Analyzed by Mark Farrah Associates
CANONSBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 10, 2025-- Health insurance companies provided fully insured coverage for approximately 186.5 million people in 2024, an increase of over 12.3 million from 2020. Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) association members, parent organizations, and their subsidiaries insured about 37.5% of the total health insurance market. In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), examined health insurance enrollment changes in key segments for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and Non-BCBS companies between 2020 and 2024. Some highlights include: To read the FREE full text of " Five Year Health Enrollment Trends Comparing Blues & Non-Blues Plans ", visit the MFA Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website. Healthcare Business Strategy is a FREE brief that presents analysis of important issues and developments affecting healthcare business today. If you would like to be added to our email distribution list, please submit your email to the " Subscribe to MFA Briefs " on our website. About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, 5500 Employer Health PLUS, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the brochures available under the Our Products section of the website ( ) or call 724-338-4100. Follow us on LinkedIn! View source version on CONTACT: Mark Farrah Associates Ann Marie Wolfe,[email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA PENNSYLVANIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES HEALTH DATA ANALYTICS INSURANCE FINANCE GENERAL HEALTH BANKING SOURCE: Mark Farrah Associates Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 06/10/2025 11:53 AM/DISC: 06/10/2025 11:51 AM
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Blue Cross Blue Shield now requires Oklahomans receive prior approval for severe asthma drugs
Starting today, Blue Cross Blue Shield will mandate that severe asthma patients self-administer their drugs at home, unless their provider gets prior approval from the insurance company. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Priya Bansal) Patients in five states who have severe asthma and are covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield are facing a new obstacle to getting treatment. On Tuesday, BCBS began mandating that severe asthma patients self-administer their drugs at home, unless their provider gets prior approval from the insurance company. The patients affected are those covered in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Montana, but not those with Medicare or Medicaid, the insurance giant says. Given as injections, the treatments in question are Fasenra (benralizumab), Tezspire (tezepelumab), Nucala (mepolizumab) and Xolair (omalizumab). All belong to a class of drugs known as biologics. The decision is expected to affect thousands of patients. It's estimated that between 5% and 10% of asthma patients have severe asthma, characterized by more flare-ups and hospitalizations. In Illinois, for example, about 860,000 patients have asthma, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means between 43,000 and 86,000 of them have severe asthma. Clinics already have loads of prior authorizations to process that often delay care, said Dr. Priya Bansal, a pediatrician and asthma and allergy physician in Illinois. Her practice sees many rural patients and those with chronic disease. 'On any given day, we'll have anywhere from 30, to my highest was 130,' she said. The change interferes with a provider and patient decision on whether in-office or at-home treatment is best for the patient, Bansal said. 'That decision that's supposed to go on between the physician and the patient is getting taken away,' she said. 'If I have a pediatric food allergy patient and they want to get the medication in the clinic, I want to be able to have the flexibility to do that.' The sickest asthma patients are often on biologics, explained Dr. Bridgette Jones, past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics' drug committee and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology's asthma cough diagnosis and treatment panel. 'These are the patients that have failed at other therapies,' said Jones, a pediatric allergy and immunology physician at Children's Mercy Hospital in Missouri. 'Once you're getting to a biologic, it means that your asthma is not under control, having frequent flare-ups.' Black and Indigenous adults and children, as well as Puerto Rican people have higher rates of illness and less access to care. For people who suffer from severe asthma, the typical inhaler is often not enough. The affected drugs can help manage severe, uncontrolled asthma by reducing airway inflammation, While the drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for self-injecting at home, they also come with risks for the uncommon but life-threatening anaphylaxis. That's why providers typically start patients on these drugs in-office for monitoring. But for at least one of the drugs, Xolair, the reaction can also happen up to a year into treatment. Many families are not comfortable administering biologics to their kids with severe asthma, Jones said. Clinics serving higher-need or underserved populations may often lack the resources to deal with more prior approvals, she added. A recent study by Massachusetts General Hospital and funded by Amgen, which developed Tezspire with AstraZeneca, suggested that in some states, the percentage of asthma patients with severe asthma is higher than 10%. In Texas, for example, about 23% of severe persistent asthma had severe uncontrolled disease. Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@ SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
