Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will lower the state's insurance premium tax rate as part of a two-year budget that will be unveiled Feb. 8, according to the Hartford Courant.
Payer
Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna saw its net profit drop 57 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016 to $139 million, down from $321 million in the same period last year.
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Little Rock promoted Steve Spaulding to executive vice president and chief health management officer. The insurer also named Missy Davis as primary care manager, according to an Arkansas Business report.
Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna entered a four-year reinsurance arrangement with Vitality Re VIII Limited as part of its long-term capital management strategy.
Individuals enrolling in health coverage through Minnesota's exchange, MNsure, received a one-week special enrollment period ahead of Tuesday's deadline in light of a new state law providing premium assistance to eligible residents.
Policy experts and consumer advocates are continuing to encourage consumers who don't have employer-based health insurance and are looking for individual plans to enroll through the ACA exchanges before Tuesday's deadline, reports The New York Times.
Health plans have long supplied their members with provider directories to assist in finding in-network physicians who are accepting new patients.
Many Americans want to see some changes to the ACA, but few support repealing the health law in its entirety, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The Trump administration partly reversed its decision Friday to suspend ads encouraging Americans to enroll in health coverage through HealthCare.gov before the open enrollment period for 2017 closes following backlash from former HHS leaders, reports The Washington Post.
Among its competitors, Indianapolis-based Anthem has the most room to improve its profit margins and earnings and could increase its earnings by a potential 30 percent — making the payer "the best play in an underappreciated industry," Barron's reports.
