In 2025, health plans put emerging tech to use, but also had to discover and utilize workarounds for government regulations from the current administration. For many payers, navigating the past year has helped them plan ahead for 2026. Becker’s connected with…
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Aetna launched a neurodiversity navigation program for select employer-sponsored commercial plans, amid rising demand from employers for inclusive behavioral benefits, with services set to begin Jan. 1. The platform is designed to support neurodivergent members and their families through one-on-one…
Independent Health is joining MVP Health Care, another nonprofit insurer based in New York. Sharing assets is one reason for the member substitution agreement, but there is another opportunity for the organizations. Pharmacy Benefit Dimensions is a subsidiary of Independent…
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill Nov. 18 requiring insurance companies to extend autism behavioral therapy coverage to include individuals up to 26 years old. Behavioral therapy for autism can include applied behavior analysis and cognitive behavioral therapy, along…
More and more payers and employers have been getting on board with surgical alternatives to GLP-1s for weight loss. A 2024 survey found most employer-sponsored plans covered these procedures, and covering GLP-1s for diabetes and obesity was much less likely.…
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Cigna Healthcare has partnered with Magic Johnson to produce “Magic Sounds,” a six-track album designed to boost mental health, according to a news release. Cigna pulled from peer-reviewed research and worked with clinical experts and music therapists to determine tempo,…
Medicare will begin covering weight-loss drugs in 2026 for the first time under a pricing agreement announced by the White House, according to a Nov. 6 press release. The agreements with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk apply most-favored-nation pricing to…
The Cigna Group’s Evernorth recently shared plans for a rebate-free pharmacy benefit model. The move could simplify drug pricing, but leaders on Cigna’s Oct. 30 earnings call warned of some potential growing pains while adjusting to the change. “Our new…
Amid a government shutdown over ACA subsidies and contentious “Make America Healthy Again” moves, Becker’s checked in with behavioral health payer and managed care provider Magellan Health’s CEO, Caroline Carney, MD, to glean her insights on how her organization is…
Many Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans lack robust behavioral health networks, according to an October brief from the HHS Office of the Inspector General. The OIG analyzed four MA plans and two Medicaid managed care plans across 10…