Mark Cuban disrupted pharmaceutical pricing in 2022 with Cost Plus Drugs, a public benefit corporation that charges a flat 15% markup on generics and posts its full price list publicly, bypassing pharmacy benefit managers and intermediaries entirely. Four years later,…
Leadership
When Katerina Guerraz, Aetna’s COO, stepped into her role in mid-2024, the company was having, by her own admission, a really tough year. Rather than look for incremental fixes, she and her team decided to set a new direction entirely…
Stellarus, a health technology company spun out of Blue Shield of California, is positioning a recently launched data platform as a way for regional and nonprofit insurers to narrow the technology gap with national carriers without giving up what makes…
The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, owned by major health insurers, is rebranding to DataSpring, powered by CAQH. The company serves as a healthcare data ecosystem for payers and providers. Despite its transition from nonprofit status earlier in 2026, CEO…
The forces reshaping health plans over the next several years are converging fast. Across the industry, executives and clinical leaders point to three trends that will define which organizations will thrive: the rapid maturation of AI from pilot projects into…
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2026, posting a net income of $59.6 million on $2.6 billion in revenue. For the company’s CFO, Ruby Kam, the result was meaningful, but one worth…
Paul Markovich — president and CEO of Blue Shield of California’s parent organization, Ascendiun — is joining the CMS and HHS Healthcare Advisory Committee, according to a May 26 LinkedIn post. The committee, whose members were announced in March, includes…
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz is revamping leadership roles at the agency, a spokesperson told Bloomberg May 23. Rebekah Armstrong has been named CMS’ new chief of staff, according to the report. She most recently led the agency’s Office of Legislation.…
AI agents in action: How Medical Mutual of Ohio transformed the member and employee experience
Sponsored
In a session sponsored by Hippocratic AI at Becker’s 4th Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable, Betsy Williamson, RN, vice president, quality performance and population health at Medical Mutual of Ohio, discussed the organization’s experience with generative AI voice agents. The…
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is the only nonprofit health insurer that offers coverage across the state’s 100 counties across all lines of business. That leaves the company with very little room to retreat to more profitable…