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Samantha Liss, Rachana Pradhan | (TNS) KFF Health News

The computer systems run by the consulting giant Deloitte that millions of Americans rely on for Medicaid and other government benefits are prone to errors that can take years and hundreds of millions of dollars to update. While states wait for fixes from Deloitte, beneficiaries risk losing access to health care and food.

Changes needed to fix Deloitte-run eligibility systems often pile on costs to the government that are much higher than the original contracts, which can slow the process of fixing errors.

It has become a big problem across the country. Twenty-five states have awarded Deloitte contracts for eligibility systems, giving the company a stronghold in a lucrative segment of the government benefits business. The agreements, in which the company commits to design, develop, implement, or operate state-owned systems, are worth at least $6 billion, dwarfing any of its competitors, a KFF Health News investigation found.

Problems and delays can extend beyond Medicaid — which provides health coverage to roughly 75 million low-income people — because some state systems assess eligibility for other safety-net programs. Whether a person gets the benefits they are entitled to depends on what the computer says. read more

Gerry Smith | Bloomberg News (TNS)

As a wave of gene therapies with multimillion-dollar price tags hit the market, many employers are dropping coverage and leaving families in a bind.

For Amanda Reed, the blows came one after another, a gut-punch introduction to motherhood.

Newborn screening this spring revealed her twin boys had a rare inherited condition called spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA. The severe form can be fatal by the age of 2 if left untreated.

The good news: a gene therapy called Zolgensma could potentially cure them. Then the bad: It would cost $4.2 million to treat both boys. Reed’s employer, the nonprofit hospital owner Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, Missouri, had recently decided to stop paying for gene therapies, the world’s most expensive treatments.

“My heart sank,” Reed recalls. A relative started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the twins, Eli and Easton, to get Zolgensma. But SMA, which hobbles production of a protein that muscles need to function properly, doesn’t wait, and time was running out. read more

By Jae Bratton | NerdWallet

When Walmart’s credit cards were discontinued in 2024, they joined a growing list of high-profile casualties among so-called co-branded credit cards, or those issued in a partnership between a major brand and an issuing bank. Prominent cards have been taken off the market, or appear headed for breakups, after the banks and merchants couldn’t make them work.

The Uber Credit Card was phased out in 2021 just four years after Uber launched its partnership with Barclays. Chase and Starbucks shut down the Starbucks® Rewards Visa® Card in July 2023, around five years after its debut. And the Apple Card, introduced in 2019, may need a new banking partner after Apple reportedly told issuer Goldman Sachs in late 2023 that it wanted out of the deal.

The credit card market evolves constantly, and issuer turnover isn’t uncommon. But merchants like Walmart and Starbucks are some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Why are they struggling with co-branded credit cards? read more

Universal Studios theme park will introduce a “Wicked” experience that includes retail and snacks next month.  Its opening will be roughly one month before the first installment of the “Wicked” movie series arrives in theaters.

At Universal, park guests can expect to see themed merchandise and fashion, movie costumes and props, plus sweet treats inspired by “Wicked.”

The store will be in a space near the park entrance that housed the UNIVRS store and also sold merchandise related to Hello Kitty and Betty Boop.  The structure stands between Today Cafe and Minion Land.

An artist concept provided by Universal shows a yellow-brick road leading up to the entrance.

The “Wicked” film, a Universal Pictures presentation, is based on the stage musical, which was based on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. It centers on “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” witch characters Glinda and Elphaba. It debuts in theaters Nov. 22, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo with Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Peter Dinklage and Bowen Yang in the cast. It is directed by Jon Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “In the Heights”). read more