Payer

Here are five articles recently published by Becker's Hospital Review on national and state news concerning Medicaid:

Avella Specialty Pharmacy, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group's pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx, is ending its drug compounding services at two Houston sites, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina formed a nonprofit health insurance company, the organizations said April 2.

CMS issued a final rule April 1 to update 2020 payment policies for Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans.

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.