Payer

The Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services selected Watertown, Mass.-based Tufts Health Plan to manage the state's Medicaid program.

The individual health insurance market is showing signs of stabilization, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. If claims expenses don't increase unexpectedly, payers may see "significant" improvement in their 2017 individual market businesses.

Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare and Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare signed a two-year provider network agreement, The Hartford Business Journal reports.

Indianapolis-based Anthem refuted a claim it was negotiating with Justice Department officials over its proposed merger with Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna, Reuters reports.

West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna signed an agreement to continue in-network care for Aetna members at RWJBarnabas hospitals and physician facilities.

The uninsured rate among veterans dropped significantly during the first two years after implementation of ACA coverage provisions, according to a new Urban Institute study.

The following payers made headlines this week, beginning with the most recent. 

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina seeking $130 million in payments under the ACA's risk corridors program, The National Law Journal reports.

Indianapolis-based Anthem filed preliminary plans to sell insurance on 2018 ACA exchanges in Kentucky and Virginia, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group made changes to the executive teams of its UnitedHealthcare and Optum operations, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports.