Payer

An agreement for CVS Health to help Anthem establish an in-house pharmacy benefits manager remains on the table despite CVS Health's pending $69 billion acquisition of rival Aetna, Reuters reports.

CVS Health has inked a definitive merger agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Aetna for roughly $69 billion in cash and stock, and the deal may lead other healthcare industry players to join forces.

Patients are significantly more likely to go to an out-of-network provider when seeking behavioral care than when seeking medical or surgical care, according to a study conducted by Milliman and commissioned by the Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute.  

The president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts responded to the Senate's passage of a tax reform bill containing repeal of the ACA's individual mandate. The mandate requires most Americans have health insurance.

UnitedHealthcare in Iowa will take on 215,000 Medicaid members previously covered by AmeriHealth Caritas effective Dec. 1, the Des Moines Register reports.

After the ACA's passage, the number of Americans enrolled in public coverage grew faster than the number in private health plans across the five biggest commercial payers, according to a recent study in Health Affairs.

UnitedHealthcare added Iora Health's Hanover, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health Connect primary care physicians to its provider network.

Anthem entered the Colorado Community Health Alliance, a care model integrating behavioral and physical healthcare for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Philadelphia-based Einstein Healthcare Network entered into a value-based agreement with Humana.

CVS Health inked a definitive merger agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Aetna for roughly $69 billion in cash and stock.