Payer

America's largest health insurers are seeing unprecedented growth in their Medicare Advantage businesses.

Cigna CEO David Cordani said in private that he regretted agreeing to merge with Anthem, despite publicly backing the deal as good for investors, Anthem lawyers alleged in court March 4, according to Bloomberg.

Hospitals of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Tennova Healthcare are no longer in UnitedHealthcare's provider network. However, Tennova physicians are still in the insurer's network, causing confusion for patients, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Health insurance startup Oscar Health said telemedicine use among its members is five times higher than the average for the industry, according to its year-end review.

Seventy percent of adults aged 55 to 64 cite affordability as one of the main reasons they purchase a short-term health plan, according to a survey from online health insurance platform eHealth.

Low-income and high-income women who were switched to high-deductible health plans experienced delays in breast cancer diagnostic testing, early stage diagnosis and chemotherapy initiation, compared to women remaining in low-deductible plans, according to a study published in Health Affairs.  

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina plans to send rebates to about 700,000 members after its administrative and other costs surpassed an ACA cap, according to The Coastland Times.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., didn't outright dismiss the possibility of a single-payer health plan in an interview with Rolling Stone, she questioned how the proposal would be paid for, according to The Hill.

An additional 4.2 million Americans would be able to obtain individual health plans, and their premiums would be about 33 percent lower on average, under a new Blue Cross Blue Shield Association proposal.

Pittsburgh-based UPMC said its health plan now has more Medicare Advantage members than Pittsburgh-based rival Highmark, according to Trib Live.