From the start of Medicaid redeterminations to short-lived megamergers, these are the 10 most read health insurance stories reported by Becker's in 2023:

From CareFirst suing Johnson & Johnson over alleged anticompetitive biosimilar tactics to Humana accused of using an AI tool to wrongfully deny Medicare Advantage claims, here five lawsuits, settlements and legal developments involving payers that Becker's has reported since Dec. 5:  

HHS urged nine states to do more to keep eligible children enrolled in Medicaid, and more states are considering Medicaid work requirements. 

In 2023, Humana announced plans to end its commercial insurance business, named its next CEO and saw a planned merger with Cigna fall through. 

From the continued slow start of Georgia's program to the Kansas governor's "middle of the road" proposal, here are four state Medicaid work requirement updates Becker's has reported on since Dec. 19: 

Elevance Health named new leadership, planned acquisitions and settled lawsuits in 2023. 

From expanding its Medicare Advantage offerings to cutting 20% of prior authorization requirements, these are the 10 most read stories about UnitedHealth Group published by Becker's in 2023:

2023 was an eventful year for Medicare Advantage. 

In 2023, Aetna, like many other payers, laid off employees. The insurer also snagged a big contract in North Carolina, and had another multibillion dollar contract blocked in New York City. 

Several payers, including UnitedHealthcare and Cigna, announced prior authorization cuts in 2023. Here is more on that and other prior authorization updates Becker's reported this year:

During an interactive session at Becker's Payer Issues Roundtable, leaders from WNS — Asheesh Tiwari, Corporate Vice President, Markets & Growth for Healthcare and Life sciences and Anand Jha, Corporate Vice President, Digital Transformation, Healthcare and Life Sciences and supported by Dr. Ronald Lopez, CMO, HealthHelp, A WNS Company, led a group of healthcare executives in a discussion about the challenges and opportunities in value-based care. 

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has tried unsuccessfully for years to expand Medicaid in the state and now has a new "middle of the road" plan that includes work requirements, NPR affiliate KCUR reported Dec. 18. 

The Justice Department wants Humana's lawsuit challenging a CMS rule that would implement stricter auditing standards on Medicare Advantage plans moved to a different court, then thrown out. 

Some of the nation's largest health insurers employ or employed physicians who have a history of malpractice or have been reprimanded by state medical boards, according to a Dec. 15 report from ProPublica and The Capitol Forum.

Humana is the latest insurer facing a lawsuit over allegedly using automated tools to deny Medicare Advantage members' claims, and Molina expects its acquisition of Bright Health's Medicare Advantage business to close soon. 

HHS is urging states to do more to prevent eligible children from being disenrolled from Medicaid coverage. 

North Carolina, Connecticut and Delaware's employee health plans are all grappling with how to cover the high cost of weight loss drugs, with each implementing limitations around coverage of the expensive medications.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Biotech subsidiary of unlawfully delaying the introduction of biosimilar competition for ustekinumab. 

A pair of South Dakota lawmakers are seeking to put a ballot issue in front of voters in 2024 on whether the state should consider work requirements for those enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program, the Argus Leader reported Dec. 15. 

While the world of healthcare remains ever changing, Seattle, Wash.-based First Choice Health, a provider and hospital-owned healthcare company, is looking to expand its network footprint in 2024.