Author: Rylee Wilson

North Carolina is moving ahead with its plans to hand over its State Health Plan to Aetna, rejecting protests from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and UMR, a UnitedHealthcare subsidiary. 

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is bringing on 300 employees to manage back-office work for its Medicaid programs, ending its contract with Amerigroup to manage these services, the Star Tribune reported Jan. 19. 

The overall insured rate in the U.S. rose between 2019 and 2021, with some states outpacing the national average growth in the insured rate of .7 percent, according HHS data. 

CenterWell, Humana's primary care organization, is opening three new clinics in Charlotte, N.C., focused on care for older adults. 

Integrating medical, pharmacy and behavioral benefits led to savings for employers, a study from Cigna found. 

While increased utilization and labor costs will be short-term challenges for payers, profits will continue to grow through 2026, according to an analysis from McKinsey published Jan. 9. 

Behavioral health management companies New Directions Behavioral Health and Tridium are combining under the name Lucet to offer a care navigation system for payers. 

Insurers paid similar rates for telehealth and in-person services in 2020, according to an analysis from the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker. 

Around 35,000 people have signed up for Colorado's public option, representing around 13 percent of the total ACA exchange enrollment in the state. 

UnitedHealth Group's health services division, Optum, has scored contracts to manage health systems' revenue cycle operations and is expecting double-digit revenue growth in 2023.