Payer

Anthem, Centene, Cigna, Humana and UnitedHealth Group all reported higher profits in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019, while Molina Healthcare saw profits decline.

Here are 11 recent articles posted by Becker's Hospital Review that concern payer-provider relationships:

Now may be the time for Health Care Service Corp. to consider a merger with some Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, including Anthem, according to an editorial by Bruce Japsen published in Forbes.

Humana filed a lawsuit against Mallinckrodt, alleging the drugmaker partook in "one of the most outrageous price-gouging schemes in the history of American medicine."

The lines between payer and provider are blurring, as providers take on risk and health plans partner or acquire providers.

A ranking member of the Senate healthcare committee called Centene Corp. "callous" in a letter to CMS officials after a meeting with the insurer's CEO, according to The Dallas Morning News.

North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell has revealed a new combined network that will ensure members of the state's health plan have in-network coverage at major hospital systems for 2020, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Tennessee's Medicaid program has launched an effort to better integrate patients' physical and mental healthcare, with the aim of saving state and federal money and improving patient care, according to NPR.

Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health posted net income of $629 million on revenues of $9.2 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2019.

Blockchain networks are being used within the healthcare insurance arena to improve the tracking of multiple transactions from different sources, according to The Signal.