Medicare Advantage funding could be cut
Supporters of Medicare Advantage program are roundly criticizing President Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget plan to slash more than $36 billion in its funding over the coming decade. In a Feb. …
Partial SC Medicare and Medicaid program combination
Much of the conversation about health care has centered on health-insurance marketplaces and whether or not to expand Medicaid. Far less discussed is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services …
Sutter Health reaches agreement with Blue Shield of California
The not-for-profit Sutter Health network announced today that it reached agreement on a new two-year contract with Blue Shield of California, preserving patient access to the doctors and care centers …
Payers focused on solving the primary care problem
Insurance carriers can become a key distribution point for emerging technologies such as wearables, which in turn can play an important part in emphasizing primary care over costly specialty care …
Health insurers trying new ways to pay
Health insurers are experimenting with new formulas for reimbursing doctors and hospitals, slowly moving away from the traditional approach of basing payments on the numbers of tests and procedures performed, …
Independence Blue Cross touts positive results from ACO payment model
Independence Blue Cross, the Philadelphia region’s largest health insurer, said Monday its accountable-care organization payment model is yielding tangible results. According to IBC, about 90 percent of region’s health care …
Aetna names chief medical officer
Hartford health insurer Aetna said it has hired Dr. Harold L. Paz as executive vice president and chief medical officer. Paz, who will join Aetna from his position as CEO …
Highmark to switch its workers to high-deductible insurance plans
Highmark Health, parent company of the state’s largest health insurer and Pittsburgh’s second-largest hospital network, plans to switch its 38,000 employees to high-deductible health plans. The move would be implemented …