Today's Top 20 Stories
  1. CMS finalizes 2025 Medicare Advantage rule: 11 key updates

    CMS issued its final 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D rule April 4, setting new standards around marketing, broker payments, and prior authorization.
  2. Why one payer CEO feels good about CMS' Medicare Advantage rates

    Clover Health CEO Andrew Toy feels good about CMS' 2025 Medicare Advantage rates. 
  3. CareFirst BCBS offers support in wake of Baltimore bridge collapse

    CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is offering space in its Baltimore headquarters for Small Business Administration employees assisting business owners in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. 

The state of AI in healthcare

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  1. 7 recent UnitedHealth leadership moves 

    From CEO to COO, these are seven moves from top executives that have taken place this year across UnitedHealth Group's core lines of business:
  2. Healthcare services ranked by Medicare Advantage utilization increases

    Medicare Advantage plans saw utilization rates rise 8.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily driven by outpatient and emergency room services, according to an AHIP survey.
  3. UnitedHealthcare names Medicare president

    UnitedHealthcare has named Robert (Bobby) Hunter as president of its Medicare business.
  4. Aetna, Horizon BCBS snag New Jersey state employee benefits contracts

    Nearly 600,000 New Jersey state and public school employees, along with their dependents, now have the choice to enroll in health plans offered by Aetna and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

How one Midwest hospital is driving financial efficiency with interconnected systems

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  1. 3 Optum M&A updates

    Optum could soon purchase Steward's physician group, a clinic chain in Oregon and home health provider Amedisys.
  2. Point32Health to make prior authorization cuts

    The parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan is updating prior authorization for home health services as it conducts a larger review of its requirements. 
  3. Centene in the headlines: 8 updates

    From Vanguard Group acquiring the sale of its scrapped East Coast campus, to completing the sale of its U.K. companies, here are eight updates on Centene that Becker's has reported since Feb. 6: 
  4. CMS finalizes marketplace network rules: 5 things to know

    CMS finalized several proposed changes to regulations for the ACA marketplace in 2025. 

How one Midwest hospital is driving financial efficiency with interconnected systems

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Major time savers can stem from single logins. That's how 1 hospital achieved a 50% reduction in month-end close time — read the short case study, here.
  1. Why higher Medicare Advantage utilization wasn't reflected in 2025 rates

    CMS has finalized a slight decrease in Medicare Advantage benchmark payments for 2025, despite large insurers reporting rising costs and utilization among MA members.
  2. Aetna names Medicare chief medical officer

    Aetna has named Ali Khan, MD, as chief medical officer for Medicare and dual-eligible beneficiaries. 
  3. Rising medical costs offset revenue gains for Independence Blue Cross

    Investment income drove a $377 million net income for Independence Blue Cross in 2023. 
  4. Cigna, ProMedica split

    Cigna and Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica are out of network as of April 1. 
  5. Centene's scrapped East Coast campus sold 

    Investment advisory firm Vanguard Group is acquiring the Charlotte, N.C.-based office campus that was once planned to be Centene's East Coast headquarters, the Charlotte Business Journal reported April 2. 
  6. Weight loss drugs ranked by Medicare Part D spend

    Medicare total spending hit $5.7 billion in 2022 after rebates for GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, up from $57 million in 2018, according to a March 22 KFF analysis.
  7. BCBS must face antitrust conspiracy claims from Ford Motor, judge rules

    A federal judge has ruled that the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and BCBS Michigan must face a lawsuit from Ford Motor Co. over an alleged antitrust conspiracy among Blues plans to fix healthcare prices, thereby overcharging Ford for health insurance provided to its employees.
  8. Medicare premiums may rise as plans move to cover Wegovy

    Wegovy was approved in March to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in adults with heart disease, paving the way for Medicare coverage of weight loss drugs. Now, healthcare policy experts anticipate monthly premiums for millions of Medicare enrollees could increase by 2026, though the amount by which prices may jump remains to be seen. 
  9. CMS finalizes 2025 Medicare Advantage rates

    CMS finalized a slight decrease in Medicare Advantage benchmark payments for 2025. 

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