Payer

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.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R)'s Alabama Health Care Improvement Task Force approved a recommendation to find a way to provide health insurance coverage for uninsured Alabamans, according to AL.com.

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

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health have settled a lawsuit and renewed a three-year contract agreement, according to Buffalo Business First.

In an effort to improve patients' health and save money, health insurers have begun paying data miners to unearth patients' personal information, according to STAT.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote a letter to UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley asking the insurer to reconsider departing from the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges, according to the Hartford Courant.

PPO plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace declined significantly from 2015 to 2016, with 28 percent dropped and 39 percent reduced, according to a report from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.