Aetna is acquiring new Medicare Advantage and state Medicaid contracts. Here are seven updates about the Hartford, Conn.-based payer Becker's has reported since Feb. 8.
- Aetna is leveraging CVS Health's retail stores to let Medicaid members know they may need to renew their coverage.
- New York City leaders greenlit an Aetna-run Medicare Advantage plan for the city's retired municipal employees. Aetna's plan will begin Sept. 1 for 250,000 retired New York City workers and their dependents, unless they choose to opt out. The city's existing plan for retirees, SeniorCare, will be discontinued.
- Some Aetna plans will be out of network at UC San Diego Health on April 7 if the two organizations don't agree on a new contract. Plans affected include commercial and Medicare policies.
- Aetna agreed to pay up to $3.4 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging it wrongly refused to cover patients' cancer treatments. The settlement allows 142 patients who were denied proton beam therapy treatment between June 2017 and October 2020 to receive cash payments of up to $24,000.
- Kelly Munson, president of Aetna Medicaid, sat down with Becker's to explain how the company is working to contact members about redeterminations and partnering with Medicaid programs in the 14 states where it manages plans.
- Aetna is bolstering its network in North Carolina ahead of its takeover of the state's health plan for public employees. In a presentation to the State Health Plan Board, Aetna North Carolina President Jim Bostian said the payer is "absolutely committed to enhancing our network [by] continuing to add providers on an ongoing basis, which is our standard practice."
- Aetna was awarded a contract to continue managing West Virginia's Medicaid services for children in the foster care system.