Payer

Government health exchanges are on track to offer shoppers fewer options than ever before in 2017.

Federal officials have ended their latest efforts to ban the sale of stand-alone fixed indemnity insurance plans that do not meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Due to marketplace challenges, Helena, Mont.-based health insurer New West Health plans to close its doors by mid-2017, reports Daily Inter Lake.

Even if it is approved by the federal government, residents of Utah who are eligible for the state's small-scale expansion plan will likely be unable to enroll in the program on Jan. 1, the estimated start date, according to The…

HHS illegally made reinsurance payments to health plans using funds that should have been deposited in the federal Treasury, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office.  

The federal government could offer a settlement to insurers suing the government over unpaid risk corridor payments, despite Congress' best efforts to quash any potential deal, reports The Washington Post.

Saint Mary's Health Network in Reno, Nev., may break its contract with Health Plan of Nevada over disagreements regarding Medicaid coverage, reports Reno Gazette-Journal.

The Utah Department of Insurance said Thursday premium rates for health plans on the state's individual marketplace will jump an average of 30 percent for 2017, KSL reports.

Dayton, Ohio-based payer CareSource will more than triple the number of West Virginia counties where it sells marketplace plans next year, Dayton Daily News reports.

UnitedHealthcare subsidiary Harken Health is pulling out of 2017 Affordable Care Act exchanges in Illinois and Georgia, Chicago Tribune reports.