The following payers made headlines this week, beginning with the most recent.
1. Western Health Advantage payer to extend coverage to Bay Area
Sacramento, Calif.-based Western Health Advantage will extend its coverage to counties in the San Francisco Bay Area after inking an agreement with provider network Canopy Health.
2. Aetna to monitor customer apps with behavior-based security
Hartford Conn.-based Aetna added behavior-based security measures to its customer-facing Aetna Mobile app.
3. Anne Arundel Medical Center may sever ties with CareFirst
Annapolis, Md.-based Anne Arundel Medical Center and Baltimore-based CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield may end their in-network agreement due to reimbursement disputes.
4. UnitedHealth's Optum division helps fuel 30% spike in Q2 earnings
Minnetonka Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group recorded $2.3 billion in net earnings attributable to shareholders in the second quarter of this year, compared to $1.8 billion in the same period a year prior.
5. BCBS of Texas to absorb 400k state employee members from UnitedHealthcare
Richardson-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas will take on more than 400,000 members as it replaces Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare's third-party contract with Employees Retirement System of Texas.
6. Anthem sues Insys Therapeutics for alleged $19M in fraudulent opioid payments
Indianapolis-based Anthem sued Insys Therapeutics in Chandler, Ariz., for allegedly issuing kickbacks to physicians prescribing its opioid painkiller and misrepresenting diagnoses to inflate reimbursement.
7. Negotiations stall between Integris, BCBS of Oklahoma as deadline looms
Oklahoma City-based Integris Health and Tulsa-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma reached a stalemate in contract negotiations.
8. Missouri Care signs contract with SSM Health to provide Medicaid coverage
Columbia-based Missouri Care, part of Tampa, Fla.-based managed care provider WellCare, signed a contract with St. Louis-based SSM Health that includes in-network access for Missouri Care's HealthNet Managed Care Members.