Payer

Oscar is extending its individual coverage footprint to six new states and 12 new markets for 2020, the health insurer said Aug. 22.

Cigna is considering selling its group benefits insurance arm, which may be valued as high as $6 billion, according to Reuters.

Providence Plan Partners, the management and administrative services arm of Providence Health Plans, will partner with managed Medicaid insurer CareOregon, the organizations said Aug. 20. 

Here are five recent articles posted by Becker's Hospital Review that concern payer-provider relationships:

While employees often only pay a fraction of what their employers do for health insurance, out-of-pocket costs for workers are rising, according to CNBC.

MaineHealth in Portland is creating a joint venture with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine to sell Medicare Advantage policies for 2020, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Centene's acquisition of WellCare Health Plans is set to close in the first half of 2020, and may even close sooner, Centene's CEO said in July.

Health IT service management company CNSI hired a former Optum executive to head up its federal health agency business, according to Washington Technology. 

A subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield requested the U.S. Supreme Court consider an opinion favoring medical equipment and staffing firm Encompass Office Solutions, which sued the insurer over benefit payments and defamation, according to Bloomberg Law.

The CEO of Highmark Health said he thinks a new 10-year agreement with UPMC will draw members to Highmark's insurance products, but affiliate hospitals are seeing mixed results after the landmark deal.