A subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield requested the U.S. Supreme Court consider an opinion favoring medical equipment and staffing firm Encompass Office Solutions, which sued the insurer over benefit payments and defamation, according to Bloomberg Law.

The CEO of Highmark Health said he thinks a new 10-year agreement with UPMC will draw members to Highmark's insurance products, but affiliate hospitals are seeing mixed results after the landmark deal.

Humana completed its public offering of $1 billion in senior notes Aug. 15. 

Health insurers selling policies on the ACA exchanges will be required to show star ratings for the first time during the 2020 enrollment period, CMS said Aug. 15.

Oscar Health signed a reinsurance deal with a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, the health insurance startup shared in a second-quarter earnings statement cited by Forbes contributor Bruce Japsen.    

The American Medical Association left an organization the health industry founded to combat single payer proposals, the organization confirmed with Becker's Hospital Review.

Medical cost ratio, which measures how much of an insurer's revenue goes toward medical claims, is a number investors frequently scrutinize when analyzing an insurer's financial performance.

The following payer executives changed their positions in the first half of August.

Kaiser Permanente ranked the highest among the largest U.S. health insurers for website satisfaction, according to a survey conducted by software company Verint.

UCare, a health insurer based in Minneapolis, will implement a $25 monthly spending cap on insulin next year, according to the StarTribune. It is the second insurer in the state to add a price cap for its members. 

All but one of the five largest for-profit payers saw double-digit growth in their Medicare Advantage membership in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019.

About eight years after failing to complete a proposed combination in 2011, Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care are trying again.

Centene Corp. will extend its offerings on the ACA's health insurance marketplace in 10 states for 2020, the health insurer said Aug. 13.

A coding issue led Anthem to mistakenly notify patients in Virginia that their physician was out of network, according to ABC affiliate WHSV.

Aetna's plan to correct Medicaid payment and network deficiencies falls short, Kansas health officials said Aug. 13, according to local radio station KCUR.

The number of Americans enrolling in unsubsidized health plans via the ACA exchanges fell 40 percent from 2016-18, according to data CMS released Aug. 12.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare, a five-hospital system in Edgewood, Ky., is voluntarily participating in a new effort launched by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to lower unexpected, sometimes million-dollar medical bills.

Anthem, Centene, Cigna, Humana and UnitedHealth Group all reported higher profits in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019, while Molina Healthcare saw profits decline.

Here are 11 recent articles posted by Becker's Hospital Review that concern payer-provider relationships:

Now may be the time for Health Care Service Corp. to consider a merger with some Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, including Anthem, according to an editorial by Bruce Japsen published in Forbes.