Payer

The relationship between payers and healthcare providers has always been strained. Amid COVID-19 and widespread workforce upheaval, tensions have only mounted. 

Four U.S. health insurers were listed among the top 10 insurance companies in the world by net premiums written, according to a Jan. 4 AM Best report. 

A former BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee employee is suing the payer alleging she was fired for complaining about the company's COVID-19 vaccination requirement to state lawmakers, The Chattanoogan reported Jan. 4. 

UnitedHealthcare will not enact a controversial policy regarding emergency care coverage in 2022, according to a Dec. 30 letter CEO Brian Thompson wrote to the American Hospital Association.

Among a series of new laws targeting payers, California became the first state to require insurers to cover at-home tests for sexually transmitted diseases, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Louisiana's Medicaid expansion in July 2016 is associated with reduced travel for all medical service lines and especially helped Black Medicaid enrollees in nonmetropolitan areas, a January Health Affairs study found.

From a former CEO moving to lead the largest hedge fund in the world to endometriosis surgeons claiming the payer is unjustly denying claims, here are five recent stories about Aetna, as reported by Becker's Hospital Review:

Regence is partnering with kidney care provider Strive Health on a care program for Medicare Advantage members with advanced chronic or end-stage kidney disease. 

After receiving an audit from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, UPMC must pay out $250,000 for claims and notification violations, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Dec. 30. 

Mark Bertolini, former CEO of Aetna, was named co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, according to a Jan. 3 news release.