Payer

Spartanburg (S.C.) Regional Healthcare System may go out of network with Cigna April 1 if the parties don't ink a new agreement.

Cigna CEO David Cordani said the insurer's proposed $67 billion takeover of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts is more of an expansion of Cigna's portfolio than a routine acquisition, according to CNBC.

Medicare-eligible patients with advanced cancers will have access to genomic tests under a national coverage determination CMS finalized March 16.

An all-payer system, or a system requiring all hospitals to charge the same prices to each payer, would force hospitals to compete over pricing, Boston University health policy professor Austin Frakt, PhD, told BU Today.

Fitch Ratings affirmed UnitedHealth Group's "AA-" insurer financial strength ratings due to the payer's strong financial performance, strong capitalization and leverage profile.

Health Partners Plans selected Barry Volin to serve as executive vice president of Medicare and operations.

About 92 percent of physicians report prior authorization has a negative effect on patient clinical outcomes, according to a new survey from the American Medical Association.

Many insurers on the ACA's exchanges benefited financially from individual plans last year, even with various Republican efforts to dismantle the health law, according to an analysis from Politico.

Boston-based Partners HealthCare and Providence, R.I.-based Care New England's proposed merger could raise health insurance premiums in Rhode Island, according to a new study commissioned by Rhode Island and obtained by WPRI.

A New Jersey lawmaker asked the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to hold hearings on Cigna's potential takeover of Express Scripts and CVS Health's bid for Aetna.