Payer

Next year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota will stop offering broad-reaching and flexible individual health plans, affecting some 103,000 people, the Star Tribune reported.

California insurance commissioner Dave Jones urged federal officials Thursday to block a merger between health insurers Aetna and Humana on grounds the deal is anti-competitive and would hurt consumers, California Healthline reported.

Land of Lincoln Health is suing the federal government, claiming the U.S. failed to pay the Chicago-based startup insurer approximately $72 million in payments owed under the Affordable Care Act's risk corridor program.

On Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reported Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health planned to sell its vision unit, known as HVHC. However, when the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contacted a representative at Highmark, the potential sale could not be confirmed.

Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna has asked a judge in Cole County Circuit Court to review Missouri's preliminary order to ban a $37 billion merger with Humana, which the state determined would impede competition, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

A New Jersey appeals court ruled Thursday Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield will not have to share how it classified hospitals in its OMNIA Health Plans, which elevates certain hospitals into preferred groups over others, The Record reported.

In recent months, federal agencies and state health officials have encouraged physicians to provide alternative pain management techniques in an attempt to curb rates of opioid addiction. However, convincing the millions of people in the U.S. who suffer from chronic…

MVP Health Insurance Co. has filed suit against Vermont's Green Mountain Care Board, alleging the board overstepped its power when it denied the insurance company's premium rate increase, according to VTDigger.

Gov. Matt Bevin plans to overhaul Kentucky's Medicaid program by imposing monthly premiums of $1 to $15 and creating a credit system, among other amendments, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported. 

In the past, small companies would compensate their employees' individual health plan costs through raises. However, with individual plan premiums on the rise, small group policies are becoming more popular in Louisiana, according to the Baton Rouge Business Report.