Payer

Health insurer BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's exit from the state's individual market in three of its most populous regions will leave thousands searching for health plans this open enrollment.

Watertown, Mass.-based Tufts Health Plan and Steward Health Care System in Boston will eliminate their Medicare Advantage agreement by the end of 2016, Boston Globe reports.

California's state health insurance exchange started contacting 1.3 million consumers via mail last week with notifications about the cost of their 2017 premiums, California Healthline reports.

The following health plans requested or received state approval for rate changes in the last two weeks, beginning with the most recent.

The federal government has developed a new policy to ensure consumers whose insurers have left the Affordable Care Act marketplace maintain coverage in 2017, reports The New York Times.

Health insurer Aetna is suing a former senior executive for allegedly violating a noncompete contract by becoming executive vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, Connecticut Law Tribune reports. 

Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee currently covers some 100,000 individuals with Medicare Advantage plans, a record for the payer, Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

Boston-based health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts chose Andreana Santangelo as executive vice president and CFO effective immediately.

Payer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will give roughly 100 full-time employees at its Quincy, Ill.-based call center the option for a separation plan that includes benefits, Herald-Whig reports.

Indianapolis-based payer Anthem said it will not cover Sarepta Therapeutics' recently approved Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug, Reuters reports.