Payer

Behavioral health management companies New Directions Behavioral Health and Tridium are combining under the name Lucet to offer a care navigation system for payers. 

Half of patients with high-deductible health plans said they have received a surprise medical bill, according to a survey from Akasa, a revenue cycle firm that uses artificial intelligence.

Around 35,000 people have signed up for Colorado's public option, representing around 13 percent of the total ACA exchange enrollment in the state. 

UnitedHealth Group's health services division, Optum, has scored contracts to manage health systems' revenue cycle operations and is expecting double-digit revenue growth in 2023. 

The uninsured rate fell by .7 percent nationwide between 2019 and 2021, according to HHS data. While uninsured rates declined in most places, in seven states and the District of Columbia, rates increased slightly during the pandemic. 

Over 30 million people are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, according to CMS data released Jan. 17.

Highmark Wholecare has increased its Medicaid membership by nearly 25 percent since August, growing to more than 375,000 members. 

At least 28 states increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for behavioral health services in 2022, or plan to in 2023, according to a report from Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, said the stories he heard from clinicians in a recent listening session about the challenges prior authorizations pose were "deeply touching and I'd say disturbing as well."

The number of uninsured people in the United States is declining, with gains in coverage concentrated among young people, Latino people and American Indians/Alaska Natives, according to new data from HHS.