Today's Top 20 Stories
  1. UnitedHealthcare, UNC Health near split date

    UnitedHealthcare and Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health are continuing to negotiate on a new contract but remain at odds as an April 1 split date looms, Fox affiliate WGHP reported Feb. 22. 
  2. CMS proposal could have 'catastrophic impact' on Medicare, Medicaid research

    CMS is proposing raising prices and tightening access to Medicare and Medicaid claims data, changes academics fear could hinder health policy research, ProPublica reported Feb. 22. 
  3. Medicare Advantage enrollees report more prior authorization delays

    Medicare Advantage enrollees are more likely to report delays in care than their counterparts in traditional Medicare, according to a survey from the Commonwealth Fund. 

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  1. UnitedHealthcare, UVM Health strike last-minute deal

    UnitedHealthcare and Burlington-based University of Vermont Health Network reached a new contract just days before its current deal was set to expire, VTDigger reported Feb. 21. 
  2. UnitedHealthcare: Employers should use SDOH data to improve employee health outcomes, costs

    Where an employee lives and the social risk factors they face affects overall health outcomes — employers should be incorporating SDOH data when designing health benefits to improve employee outcomes, productivity and associated costs, according to a white paper published Feb. 21 by UnitedHealthcare and the Health Action Council. 
  3. Single payer still a tough sell in California

    California legislators are putting a single-payer system back on the table, but it still faces long odds of becoming a reality, the Los Angeles Times reported Feb. 21. 
  4. Independence Blue Cross names VP of corporate strategy

    Independence Blue Cross has promoted Peishan Ang to vice president of corporate strategy. 

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  1. 4 Medicaid expansion updates

    From Georgia suing the Biden administration to extend the state's partially expanded program to a Florida group launching a ballot initiative, here are four state Medicaid expansion updates Becker's has reported since Feb. 2: 
  2. Cambia names vice president of state affairs

    Cambia Health Solutions has promoted Stephen Foxley to vice president of state affairs. 
  3. Indiana system dropping Aetna, Humana Medicare Advantage plans

    Community Healthcare System is dropping two Medicare Advantage plans, citing unreasonable denials and delayed payments, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported Feb. 20. 
  4. Longtime UnitedHealth exec named CEO of dental benefits administrator

    Dental benefits administrator Liberty Dental Plan has named longtime UnitedHealth Group executive Tom Choate president and CEO. 

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  1. OIG: Trinity's Medicare Advantage plan received estimated $3.7M in overpayments

    MediGold, the Medicare Advantage subsidiary of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, received an estimated $3.7 million in net Medicare Advantage overpayments in 2017 and 2018, according to an audit from HHS' Office of Inspector General published Feb. 16. 
  2. What's behind Aetna's industry-leading Medicare Advantage growth?

    It's no secret that big insurers are facing challenges in the Medicare Advantage space, leaving enrollment growth flat or even on the decline for much of the industry in 2024.
  3. BCBS Massachusetts names chief people officer

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has named Simmi Singh as chief people officer and executive vice president.
  4. Friday Health collapse spurs consumer protection bill in Colorado

    Colorado lawmakers are considering a bill that would prevent customers from incurring extra out-of-pocket costs if their insurer goes bankrupt in the middle of the year. 
  5. Medicaid programs embrace doula care

    Thirteen states provide doula coverage through their Medicaid programs, and another 12 are in the process of implementing coverage, according to a report from the Elevance Health Public Policy Institute. 
  6. Mississippi lawmakers push Medicaid expansion bill with work requirements

    Mississippi lawmakers have introduced a bill that would expand Medicaid for an estimated 250,000 residents, ABC affiliate WAPT reported Feb. 19. 
  7. Payers urge 'stability' from CMS on Medicare Advantage

    CMS needs to do more to account for rising utilization rates in Medicare Advantage, the Better Medicare Alliance argued. 
  8. 3 Medicaid redetermination updates

    Nearly 17 million people have been disenrolled from Medicaid since April 2023. 
  9. Medicare Advantage enrollees receive less postacute care: Study

    Medicare Advantage enrollees received less intensive postacute care than their counterparts in traditional Medicare, but did not have a significant change in short-term outcomes, a study published Feb. 16 in JAMA Health Forum found. 

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