Payer

UnitedHealthcare is expanding doula coverage to eligible employer-sponsored plans nationwide. “UnitedHealthcare now will be the first to offer doula support in employer-sponsored and commercial members at this scale across plans nationwide,” Rhonda Randall, DO, chief medical officer for the insurer’s…

A Kansas Senate bill introduced in February is aiming to broaden Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility in the state. SB 271 strives to raise the income threshold for CHIP eligibility from 250% of the federal poverty line, removing the prior…

On March 12, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed a bill that would transfer nursing home residents with a stay duration of at least 100 days from Medicaid managed care to fee for service. The transitions will begin July 1, 2027.…

Healthcare has invested heavily in behavioral health over the past decade. Networks have expanded, telehealth access has grown, and spending continues to rise. Yet outcomes remain stubbornly inconsistent. Nearly one-in-four Americans experienced a mental health challenge last year, and one-in-ten…

Medicaid spending on outpatient prescription drugs has climbed sharply in recent years even as utilization remained relatively flat and enrollment declined. A March 12 report from KFF outlines the key drivers of the increase and the early impact of new…

CMS plans to transition to an independent dispute resolution “gateway” during the second half of 2026, according to a March 16 email shared with Becker’s. The federal agency will move away from single-use web forms, instead relying on “a secure,…

New research from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is offering what the organization describes as the first publicly available data connecting rising hospital coding intensity to higher healthcare costs, pointing to AI-assisted coding tools as a likely driver. The…

Minnesota’s House of Representatives passed HF3378 in a 107-27 vote March 12, which aims to grant lawmakers access to the full, unredacted Optum report on the state’s Medicaid program. Optum has been acting as a third-party auditor for Minnesota in…

About 82% of the more than 16,000 available public comments on the 2027 Medicare Advantage proposed rate notice share the perspective and language of a letter from the Medicare Advantage Majority, a group with undisclosed funding sources and founders, according…

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare offer the best mobile provider search tools among major Medicare Advantage insurers, according to a February report from Corporate Insight shared with Becker’s. The report evaluated tools available on iOS and looked at…