Payer

BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona and Tucson, Ariz.-based Carondelet Health Network have signed a new four-year contract, ending a dispute that could have caused the insurer's customers to lose in-network access at Carondelet facilities, according to a the Arizona Daily Star.

Health insurer WellCare Health Plans will transition its pharmacy benefit management to CVS Health Corp. effective Jan. 1, according to Reuters.

Although open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act ends Jan. 31, the enrollment period has already seen a plethora of both recurring and first-time issues.

New York is the first state in the U.S. to make pregnancy a "qualifying life event," allowing pregnant women to enroll in health insurance at any time through the state health exchange, rather than just during the three-month annual enrollment…

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.

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.