Payer

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is delaying the implementation of its Medicaid managed care behavioral health and intellectual/developmental disabilities tailored plans until Oct. 1; they had been set to launch April 1.

Idaho dropped nearly 10,000 people from its Medicaid program during the COVID-19 public health emergency, a move federal officials say was improper, NPR and Kaiser Health News reported Feb. 27.

UnitedHealth Group's Board of Directors is made of a wide range of former business executives, top medical leaders, and voices from tech and other industries. 

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are less likely to be hospitalized for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions than their counterparts in traditional Medicare, but this care is shifted to other settings, a study published Feb. 24 in JAMA Health Forum found. 

The American Dental Association says there needs to be more data about Medicare Advantage dental benefits. 

As Medicaid redeterminations loom, some states are looking to complete the process as quickly as possible.

While other large health insurers are not expected to join Humana's exit from the commercial market in the short term, the government market may be increasingly attractive, Bloomberg Law reported Feb. 27. 

Special needs plans, Medicare Advantage plans for individuals with chronic or disabling conditions, are growing faster than the general MA program. 

The National Grocers Association, which represents independent supermarkets, says payers' health benefits programs are excluding independent grocers and their customers.

Humana is projecting to add at least 775,000 new Medicare Advantage members in 2023.