Payer

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, the largest health insurer in the state, will no longer offer agents and brokers commissions on individuals health plans, according to the Chicago Tribune.

New York-based health insurance startup Oscar Health has closed a $400 million financing round, led by Fidelity Investments, that values the company at $2.7 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Gaining market power on both the provider and payer sides of healthcare has been the name of the game in recent years. In fact, consolidation has become so pervasive that partners have been increasingly likely to attempt dubious mergers, according…

The following insurers made headlines this week. They are listed below, beginning with the most recent.

Due to ever-increasing costs of healthcare coverage, health sharing ministries were started throughout the U.S. more than two decades ago. But critics contend these ministries may have underlying disadvantages, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Health Republic of New York — a nonprofit insurance co-op formed under the Affordable Care Act — abruptly closed last November. Now the FBI may be investigating why, according to NewsDay.com.

This month, seven executives from Louisville, Ky.-based Humana received almost $27 million in common shares for longevity and performance, according to Insider Louisville.

Is expanding Medicaid coverage feasible and beneficial? That is the question many states have been asking themselves since 2014, when the government extended eligibility to low income adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Oakland, Calif.-based Alameda Health System is in a contract dispute with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California, according to a San Jose Mercury News report.

New York-based health insurance startup Oscar is hoping to significantly increase nationwide enrollment from 145,000 this year to 1 million within the next five years, according to Bloomberg.