Patients, volunteers and healthcare professionals are scheduled to rally June 21 in a "battle" with Empire BlueCross BlueShield over "equitable reimbursement" for Oceanside, N.Y.-based South Nassau Communities Hospital, according to the supporters.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/21/18

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's Medicare Advantage plan, for the fourth consecutive year, ranked highest in member satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power 2018 Medicare Advantage Study.  By Alia Paavola - 6/21/18

Health insurance startup Oscar Health filed plans to offer individual marketplace coverage in six new markets next year, bringing its total expansion to nine states and 14 markets in 2019, the company said June 21.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/21/18

For the fourth consecutive year, customers named Kaiser Permanente as the No. 1 health plan based on experience, according to Forrester's 2018 Consumer Experience Index.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/21/18

Michael Dudley, former senior vice president of Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare and CEO of its Optima Health plan, served as an executive with Sentara for 21 years. He previously spent 19 years at Kaiser Permanente, and across nearly four decades has "observed multiple cycles of providers rushing into the health plan business followed by the rapid exit of providers who fail in managing risk," he wrote in a blog post on Gist Healthcare.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/21/18

Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic agreed to work directly with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to decide what emerging technology BCBSM will cover.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/19/18

Anthem closed its acquisition of the nation's largest provider of palliative care services for an undisclosed amount.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/18/18

Quest Analytics, a provider of network access services to health plans and insurance regulators, acquired provider data management platform BetterDoctor June 18.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/18/18

Here are four companies that have recenlty agreed to a transaction with UnitedHealth Group:  By Morgan Haefner - 6/18/18

Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans in aggregate gained $2.3 billion in 2017 as a result of new federal tax law, according to a report from ratings agency A.M. Best.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/18/18

Despite openly opposing a proposed deal between Aetna and Humana in 2016, the American Medical Association has not asked antitrust regulators to block CVS Health's proposed $69 billion bid for Aetna, according to Forbes contributor Bruce Jepsen.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/18/18

Aetna asked a district court to require its former chief Medicare actuary to return documents used to accuse CVS Caremark of overbilling the federal government for prescriptions since 2007, according to a recent court filing.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/18/18

A federal appellate court ruled health insurers are not owed billions of dollars in funding under the ACA's risk corridors program, according to Law360.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/14/18

A federal judge has greenlighted AT&T's takeover of Time Warner, a ruling expected to spur a wave of corporate takeovers. If the decision plays out as the markets anticipate, Anthem may consider a bid for Humana, writes Bloomberg's Max Nisen in an op-ed.  By Alia Paavola - 6/14/18

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association can appeal claims that the way it does business may be an automatic violation of federal antitrust regulations, according to Law360.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/14/18

UnitedHealth Group won a dismissal of a lawsuit accusing the health insurer of Medicare Advantage fraud, according to Reuters.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/14/18

HealthEquity, a health savings trustee, discovered one of its employee's email accounts containing individuals' protected health information had been compromised due to a human error, according to HealthEquity's notice posted on Click On Detroit.  By Julie Spitzer - 6/13/18

UnitedHealth Group snatched up Epic Hearing, which manages insurance benefits for a Swiss hearing aid manufacturer, March 30, according to the Star Tribune.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/13/18

CMS' Innovation Center revealed June 8 that Maryland will become the first state fully at risk for the total cost of healthcare for Medicare beneficiaries.  By Morgan Haefner - 6/13/18

Humana and EY Advisory outlined an "aspirational vision" for how blockchain might be able to improve maintenance of provider directories in a white paper released June 11.  By Jessica Kim Cohen - 6/12/18