Author: Andrew Cass

A federal appellate court ruled that some beneficiaries of UnitedHealth Group's behavioral health unit may be entitled to have their claims reprocessed, according to an Aug 22 decision. 

A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed Aug. 22 on behalf of two families accusing Florida of terminating their Medicaid coverage without proper notice or a chance to contest the decision. 

At least 5.2 million people have been disenrolled from Medicaid as of Aug. 21, and 74 percent of those disenrollments have been for procedural reasons, according to data from KFF.  

Three payer acquisition deals have come under scrutiny by state or federal officials in August: 

Press Ganey has tapped a former UnitedHealthcare C-suite executive to serve as general manager and senior vice president of its member experience business. 

CVS Health will lay off 521 Aetna employees, according to WARN Act documents filed Aug. 18.  

UnitedHealthcare is cutting 20 percent of its prior authorizations in two waves. The first cuts take effect Sept. 1 and the second phase goes into effect Nov. 1. 

Cigna Healthcare has named general managers for their group employer businesses in Southern California and the Midwest. 

Three Louisiana state senators and the attorney general are calling for a delay of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana's sale to Elevance Health, nola.com reported Aug. 16. 

Tennessee Rep. Mark Green has introduced a bill targeting prior authorization requirements in Medicare and Medicare Advantage, as well as prior authorization fixes for Medicare prescription drug plans.