C-Suite

More than half of survey respondents caring for a parent spent $5,000 or more of their own money on such care in the past year.

"Instead of reining in bad actors or addressing spiraling costs, emerging state proposals all too often loosen arbitration standards for providers or restrict private sector efforts to curb unnecessary arbitration and irresponsible billing practices," Dillon Clair, director of state advocacy at ERIC, wrote in a letter to the National Council of Insurance Legislators.

Alaska is the state with the highest median allowed amount for vaginal deliveries: $30,585.

"Many interactions that support coordination, learning, mentoring, problem solving and attachment to the firm occur informally and repeatedly through face-to-face contact," the report said.

The inflation-adjusted total may have fallen more than 35% between 2015 and 2025.

Provisions could expand employer access to plan data, create a new coverage purchasing option, and soup up health savings accounts.