The Starling Group

05/26/2026

04/23/2026

“The U.S. system today is under extraordinary strain," according to an OpenAI news release. "Clinicians are being asked to care for more patients while managing growing administrative demands and a rapidly expanding body of medical research. Many are already turning to AI tools like ChatGPT for support."

More than 7 in 10 physicians now report using AI in clinical practice, up from 48% last year.

04/22/2026

The move allows small businesses to start a workers’ comp quote through a conversational exchange in ChatGPT, rather than via traditional web forms or an agent submission, and gives EMPLOYERS an additional digital entry point to potential customers.

Move makes it easier for small businesses to quote for customers

04/08/2026

Our survey found that nearly half of brokers are now selling ICHRA. Of those, about half currently have 1-2 clients on ICHRA, while nearly a quarter have scaled to 11 or more ICHRA clients. During the webinar, a live poll echoed this divide in real-time: About two-thirds of attendees hadn't sold an ICHRA yet, while nearly 10% had over 11 ICHRA clients.

ICHRA is quickly moving into the mainstream — but brokers aren't all on the same page when it comes to selling it.

03/25/2026

What it means: For and benefits , battles involving governments, officials, AI firms, and provider groups represent a new, high-tech addition to the long-running fights over the "scope of practice" of biological human health care providers, such as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and pharmacists.

California and Illinois are examples of states that are trying to restrict or ban use of automated care providers.

03/18/2026

**What You Need To Know**
Approximately 10% of the hospitals examined experienced a significant rise in patient severity levels. While the reported severity levels increased notably, the quality of care stayed roughly consistent. An insurer audited one hospital that showed a sharp increase in claim intensity and identified numerous questionable coding choices.

High-tech efforts to document symptoms might have increased costs 1.8% in 2024.

03/17/2026

"The government pays private insurers over $530 billion each year to care for Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage," said Brett A. Shumate, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Division. "We will continue to hold accountable insurers that knowingly submit inaccurate or unsupported diagnoses to improperly inflate reimbursement."

"We will continue to hold accountable insurers that knowingly submit inaccurate or unsupported diagnoses to improperly inflate reimbursement," said Brett A. Shumate, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Division.

02/25/2026

The No Surprises Act (enacted Dec 2020, active Jan 2022) protects patients with group/individual health insurance from unexpected "balance bills" for emergency services, air ambulances, and out-of-network care at in-network facilities. It limits cost-sharing to in-network levels and requires "good faith estimates" for uninsured patients.

The average determination took 91 days and cost $445, and providers won 80% of the time.

02/19/2026

Effective January 1, 2026, the SECURE 2.0 Act introduces major retirement planning changes, most notably requiring individuals aged 50 and older earning over $150,000 (indexed for inflation) to make catch-up contributions to 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans on a Roth (after-tax) basis. This shift affects payroll,, employer compliance, and tax planning for high earners.

Congress recently passed the SECURE Act 2.0 as part of the Omnibus Spending Bill. Here’s how it may affect the way you save and spend in retirement.