Payer

When patients receive care at a hospital or urgent care facility, having insurance doesn't guarantee they receive the lowest price for services.

GuideWell subsidiary Florida Blue is using Olive-created artificial intelligence to reduce the turnaround time for prior authorizations by an average of 10 days. 

Tufts Health Plan received $3.7 million in Medicare Advantage overpayments, the HHS Office of Inspector General announced Feb. 14. 

CMS' new monthly special enrollment period for ACA marketplaces is slated to kick off in late March and continue monthly, according to the American Hospital Association. 

Anthem Blue Cross established a scholarship at the Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University to support disabled students seeking careers in healthcare. 

While payers like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and Aetna are beginning to battle new lawsuits in court, UnitedHealth Group is claiming a courtroom victory through a clerical error. 

A Louisiana appeals court ruled that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana must face a 2016 lawsuit over rate reimbursements, according to an opinion released Feb. 14. 

Optum launched Specialty Fusion Feb. 17, a new solution from the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary that allows payers and providers to manage specialty drug treatments with real-time data. 

The demand for service dogs to help patients navigate disabilities is swelling, but lofty costs tied to getting a canine are largely left to patients, according to Kaiser Health News.

Hospitals on average are charging patients and payers twice the price specialty pharmacies charge for the same drugs, according to a Feb. 16 report from America's Health Insurance Plans.