Trending News Today: Uninsured Rate Drops to Historic Low

Insurer Highmark Inc is suing the federal government on claims that they did not receive money owed from the Affordable Care Act. The company filed the suit because they claim the government did not pay approximately $223 million owed to the company for “risk corridors,” according to The Wall Street Journal. This program ensures a limited financial risk for insurers that enter the exchanges.

In 2015, the number of uninsured people in the United States dropped below 10% for the first time in history due to the Affordable Care Act. In the year the ACA was implemented, 2010, the number of uninsured people was at 16%, which has dropped annually since then. However, some critics of the law say the decrease was not as sizeable as it should have been for the amount of money it cost, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Novartis AG recently announced that its head of pharmaceuticals, David Epstein, will leave the company and be replaced by AstraZeneca PLC’s head, Paul Hudson. Novartis is currently in the middle of separating its cancer unit from the rest of the company. This change is due to falling sales of Gleevec, which became available as a generic earlier this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.