It’s no secret that the HR function has become more complex in recent years. Thanks to policy changes in State Paid Sick Leave, the Affordable Care Act, demands brought forth by the #MeToo movement (among other changes), today HR professionals have the gargantuan task of keeping their organizations compliant, while also keeping employees happy, safe and healthy. 

A bipartisan bill in Georgia's House of Representatives would require managed care organizations to reimburse the state if they spent too little on medical care or quality improvements, according to Kaiser Health News. 

Ten providers — including Lumeris, Wellpath and St. Luke's University Health Network — recently posted job listings seeking leaders to help payer contracting and relations. 

CMS is earmarking $49.4 million to reduce the number of uninsured children, parents and pregnant people across the country. 

Small businesses aren't just bumping up wages to attract employees amid labor shortages — they are also doubling-down on strong health insurance benefits, according to a Jan. 27 Bloomberg report. 

Twenty-one payers were recognized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation as some of the best places to work for LGBTQ+ equality.

From the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association finding its top-level information security officer to Colorado Access making history with its new president and CEO — the first woman and person of color to hold the position — here are 10 recent payer executive moves:

A record-setting 14.5 million Americans signed up for health coverage since open enrollment began Nov. 1. 

Cigna discussed a potential acquisition of Centene in the final months of 2021, but nothing has come of the preliminary conversations, according to a Jan. 26 Bloomberg report. 

From a 2021 earnings report with mixed takeaways to leadership earning one of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's highest honors, here are five recent headlines involving Anthem:

Indiana lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that aims to increase payer price transparency and cut down prior authorization turnaround time, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. 

America's Health Insurance Plans filed an amicus curiae brief in support of HHS in an ongoing lawsuit from the Association of Air Medical Services, a trade association representing air ambulance providers. 

Two North Carolina payers — Aetna Better Health Care and My Health by Health Providers of Morrisville — are stepping away from the table after suing the state's health and human services department in 2019 over its Medicaid contract, according to the Triangle Business Journal.  

St. Louis-based SSM Health and Dean Health Plan are warning patients of efforts to trick people into signing up for scam insurance by pretending to be an SSM Health representative, according to NBC affiliate WMTV. 

President Joe Biden is exploring requiring coverage of at-home COVID-19 tests for Medicare beneficiaries in addition to private commercial members, according to a Jan. 26 report from The Wall Street Journal. 

Anthem reported $137 billion in year-end revenue for 2021, anchored by government market and pharmacy growth as commercial development seems to stall. 

Electronic claim payment trends all point to one dynamic: faster turnaround. Simply put, businesses and consumers now expect near-immediate access to funds when they have been given notice of transfer. Luckily, that era of real-time digital payments is not too far off for health plans. 

The rapidly changing healthcare landscape, along with unrelenting pressure to control costs, challenges payers to find better ways to manage the complex cost allocation processes.

The health insurance market is in a strong, favorable position for the nation's largest payers, according to a Fitch Ratings report shared with Becker's. 

Americans are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the limited protections offered by short-term, limited-duration health plans, according to a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society report.