Payer

From Anthem formalizing its purchase of Integra Managed Care to Optum quietly buying up primary care groups in Oregon, these are eight recent mergers and acquisitions involving payers:

Behavioral science can help health plans achieve their goals by changing the behavior of members and providers, according to executives with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. They recommend that all health plans implement an internal "nudge unit," or a…

On May 18, HHS and the Treasury Department approved Virginia's waiver application to establish the "Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program" that aims to reimburse some payers for a percentage of members' high claims and reduce premiums.

UCare Associate Vice President of Equity and Inclusion Joy Marsh subscribes to the idea that equity is everyone's job. 

From an approved rebranding to the acquisition of a managed care company, here are seven recent headlines involving Anthem: 

Two drug distributors cannot sue Optum under federal civil rights claims for allegedly losing them customers by denying accreditation from state pharmacy boards, a federal appeals court ruled May 19.

New York Attorney General Letitia James' office announced that a settlement administrator has completed $13.6 million in payments to consumers who were denied mental healthcare coverage by UnitedHealthcare. 

Blue Shield of California is investing $7 million over five years into a new fellowship program at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health that aims to increase diversity among healthcare professionals and train them to use data…

From Humana's $1.2 billion joint venture to build 100 value-based primary care clinics to the expansion of a provider network to include Dominican Republic policyholders, these are 10 recent payer partnerships:

The effect on premiums when pre-deductible coverage was expanded to 14 services in HSA-eligible health plans ranges from virtually nothing to 1.5 percent, according to a new study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.