Currently, health insurers' Medicare physician directories that inaccurately include non-Medicare providers are merely an inconvenience for consumers. However, beginning in 2016, insurers can incur costly fines for such mistakes, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Payer
As of Jan. 1, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will begin offering its 2.8 million members some of the most comprehensive benefits for end-of-life care in the U.S., according to The Boston Globe.
WellCare requested the Iowa Department of Human Services "maintain the status quo" while a district judge reviews a state arbiter's decision to toss out WellCare's contract bid for Medicaid patients, according to the Sioux City Journal.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will use Waltham, Mass.-based Alegeus' platform to assist its members in consumer directed health plans.
Effective Feb. 1, Morehead, N.C.-based Carteret Health Care will be an out-of-network provider for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina members, according to The Jacksonville Daily News.
As the Dec. 31 negotiation deadline approaches in the contract dispute between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Tuscon, Ariz.-based Carondelet Health Network, county officials advocated for a quick resolution at a board meeting Wednesday.
Two health systems will form a joint-venture healthcare network to provide care services for more than 200,000 Central Valley Medi-Cal patients, according to the Fresno Business Journal.
Des Moines-based AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa and Iowa City-based University of Iowa Health Care have signed a Medicaid agreement contract.
The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans and the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative are launching a new program to ensure individuals seeking substance-abuse services get the level of care they need, according to Boston.com.
As of Jan. 1, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin and St. Louis-based SSM Health will partner with four hospitals to Anthem's Blue Preferred and Blue Access insurance networks, according to the Journal Sentinel.