Payer

The Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission during a Feb. 26 meeting voted to eliminate GLP-1 coverage for state employees and retirees. Chair Valerie Sullivan said removing the coverage would help with managing the budget. She called the vote “a very difficult…

CMS has suspended new Medicare Advantage enrollment into Aspirus Health Plan, part of Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Health, after the insurer’s claims processor was taken over by Minnesota regulators. The intermediate sanction, issued Feb. 24, bars new Medicare beneficiaries from enrolling…

State Medicaid budgets will shrink by $664 billion through 2034 as key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) take effect, with impacts varying by state depending on expansion status, reliance on provider taxes and the use…

UnitedHealth Group’s board of directors has authorized a cash dividend of $2.21 per share to be paid March 17.  The dividend will be paid to all shareholders of record as of the close of business March 9, according to a…

CMS is freezing $259.5 million in federal Medicaid funding to Minnesota, citing unsupported or potentially fraudulent claims in the state’s program. “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota…

HHS released its third annual report Feb. 9 that evaluates how the No Surprises Act has affected healthcare markets. The report was produced with analytical support from RAND, and extends claims data trends through 2022, the first full year after…

GoodRx is moving into the employer benefits market with a new program that lets companies subsidize discounted cash prices on brand-name drugs for their employees. The program, GoodRx Employer Direct, launched earlier this year with grocery chain Hy-Vee as one…

EmblemHealth is partnering with Mae Health, a digital platform that connects expectant mothers to culturally responsive doulas, according to a Feb. 24 news release shared with Becker’s. The collaboration will target EmblemHealth Medicaid members. Doulas can assist with education around…

SCAN Health Plan will start a “Brokers as Health Navigators” program across its Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington markets, according to a Feb. 23 news release. “Many of the best brokers are already acting as trusted advisors, guiding…

In February, CMS released a final report on its Accountable Health Communities model, which launched in 2017 and ran until 2023. The model focused on addressing “upstream drivers of health,” or social determinants, for Medicaid and original Medicare beneficiaries. These…