Payer

Cigna Ventures is in on the latest $750 million investment in Bright Health Group, and the startup's CEO said the move could spark collaboration down the road, according to the Star Tribune. 

As President Joe Biden looks to combat the spread of COVID-19 by requiring payers to cover over-the-counter tests, insurers fear that the move could result in price gouging, Bloomberg reported Dec. 2. 

Aetna and Syracuse, N.Y.-based St. Joseph's Health, a 431-bed, Trinity Health-owned hospital, announced a one-month extension to their current contract as they continue negotiations. 

Alignment Healthcare's Medicare Advantage plan, Alignment Health Plan, is the first in the country to cover Galleri, a multi-cancer early detection blood test developed by Grail.

Medicare saw a 14 percent dip in anticipated payments to physicians in 2020, but telehealth simultaneously stepped into the limelight to make up a larger share of Medicare spending, according to an American Medical Association analysis. 

Digital tools adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic also play a crucial role in combating health inequities, according to a United Health Foundation panel.

President Joe Biden's Dec. 2 announcement of a plan to require private insurers cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests is raising skepticism that access issues will still be rampant, The Hill reported Dec. 5.

Despite both Missouri and Oklahoma expanding Medicaid in 2021, each state is seeing vastly different results.

Nevada will charge insured public employees upwards of $55 a month if they are unvaccinated against COVID-19, making it the first state to enact such a penalty.

Aetna and Minneapolis-based Allina Health's insurance joint venture is launching four new plans targeting employers and self-insured customers.