Payer

The percentage of children in Missouri who reported thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide doubled after private insurers began managing the state's Medicaid program, according to a Missouri Hospital Association analysis cited by Kaiser Health News.

CMS gave Utah the OK to implement work requirements less than two days after a federal judge struck down the policy in Arkansas and Kentucky, according to Kaiser Health News.

A UnitedHealthcare executive disagreed with statements from Iowa officials that the health insurer is departing the program because it didn't want to comply with pay-for-performance measures, according to the Des Moines Register.  

UnitedHealthcare will pull out of Iowa's managed Medicaid program, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said March 29.

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's move to loosen regulations around association health plans doesn't comply with the ACA, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said March 26 he supports eliminating private health insurance companies, according to The Hill.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that "Medicare for All" proposals would harm seniors' access to care by bringing all Americans into a system created to support just older adults.

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

Sutter Health | Aetna, the joint health plan launched by Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health and Aetna, added Stanford (Calif.) Health Care to its provider network, according to the North Bay Business Journal.

Centene Corp.'s recent agreement to buy Wellcare Health plans and create a government-sponsored healthcare giant could have implications for a host of other companies, including CVS Health and Humana, according to Barron's.