Payer

Substance use disorders among adults with employer-sponsored insurance cost payers $35.4 billion each year, a study from CDC researchers found. 

Elevance Health reported double-digit revenue growth and beat investor expectations in 2022, but posted a slight dip in profits year-over-year, according to the company's fourth quarter earnings report published Jan. 25.

From releasing its fourth-quarter earnings to being investigated by the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority, here are eight stories about UnitedHealth Group that Becker's has reported since Jan. 13:  

The overall insured rate in the U.S. rose between 2019 and 2021, with some cities and counties far outpacing the national average growth in the insured rate of .7 percentage points, according HHS data. 

AHIP, the trade association representing health insurers, spent $13.3 million on lobbying expenses in 2022, up from $11.3 million in 2022, Politico reported Jan. 24. 

Payers could save between $80 billion and $110 billion in the next five years using existing artificial intelligence technology, according to a new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research. 

The Federal Communications Commission said federal and state governments — as well as their partners — can make Medicaid enrollment calls and text messages without violating robocall and robotext prohibitions. 

South Dakota voters passed a Medicaid expansion measure in November, but now state lawmakers are proposing a ballot issue that would add work requirements to that expansion, CBS affiliate KELO reported Jan. 23. 

Payers' stocks, which remained strong through 2022, could take a hit in 2023 as the Federal Reserve relaxes interest rate hikes and federal regulators tighten rules around Medicare Advantage, The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 23. 

Georgia will not consider a full expansion of Medicaid in the near future, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Jan. 19.