Payer

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

For 2017, Dallas, Texas-based health insurer CHRISTUS Health Plan will offer individual and family coverage through Texas's Affordable Care Act exchange for Tyler, Texas-based CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System.

St. Louis-based insurer Centene hopes to fill 100 jobs in Arizona by Nov. 1.

Orange, Calif.-based payer CaliforniaChoice will offer two Western Health Advantage plans for northern California small businesses effective Dec. 1.

Payer UnitedHealthcare teamed up with the University of California for a 10-year strategic relationship to transition California into a value-based healthcare system.

The share of health plan premiums government employees and retirees pay will increase an average of 6.2 percent next year, The Washington Post reports. 

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and Catholic Health System in Buffalo, N.Y., have partnered to offer individuals and small employers a tiered network plan, reports The Buffalo News.

The following insurers made headlines this week. They are listed below, beginning with the most recent.

Approximately 600,400 military veterans could go without healthcare coverage in 2017 if non-expansion states continue to reject Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, according to research from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The federal government and Vermont drafted an agreement to implement an all payer healthcare payment system following roughly two years of negotiations, VTDigger reports.