The COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare out of both its macro- and micro-level comfort zones, driving payers to meet consumer demands with innovative solutions, Alan Murray, CEO and president of Empire BlueCross, wrote in an Oct. 15 piece for the Albany Inno.

Through a partnership with Transcarent, Walmart is offering its savings on pharmaceuticals and other services to self-insured employers for the first time.

America's Health Insurance Plans submitted comments to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure on Oct. 12 over the organization's Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology and Definition of "Reasonable and Necessary" rule. 

Oct. 15 marks the start of the open enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries, which spans through Dec. 7.

U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of the top Medicare Advantage plans in each state for the 2022 coverage period. 

Insurers around the country are pivoting from pandemic-era strategies as they develop virtual-first plans — a strategy that promotes telehealth visits prior to nonemergency care.

New legislation in the Senate is looking to broaden Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program and Veterans Affairs coverage for incarcerated individuals awaiting trial. 

Following the Oct. 13 rollout of a new Medicaid provision for abortion providers in Missouri, CMS is launching a formal review of the policy. 

Anthem Blue Cross members can now use their Alexa-enabled smart devices to connect with care providers at Los Angeles-based Keck Hospital of USC.

As President Joe Biden is looking to cut $1 trillion out of his $3.5 proposed spending package, top lawmakers want to ensure proposed ACA subsidy expansions and efforts to close state Medicaid gaps are top priorities.

Implementing the No Surprises Act, the federal government's attempt to cut down on surprise billing practices, could slow the growth of healthcare premiums.

A recent Commonwealth Fund study found that Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare enrollees have comparable healthcare experiences and concerns about costs.

UnitedHealth Group released its third-quarter results Oct. 14, demonstrating double-digit growth throughout its portfolio.

U.S. physicians routinely are seeing their higher-cost claims downcoded by insurers, a strategy a family physician in Cincinnati called a revenue grab, according to Medscape. 

Aetna and Minneapolis-based Allina Health's joint venture, Allina Health Aetna, is expanding its Medicare Advantage options ahead of the upcoming open enrollment period. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is rolling out a new partnership with Grand Rapids Community College (Mich.), where the organizations partner to train health insurance agents.

Humana is scaling its Cohere Health-enabled musculoskeletal prior authorization platform from use in 12 states to the entire country.

Humana will be refunding $18.3 million to the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority, whose Medicare plan it administers.

An opinion piece co-authored by Donald Berwick, MD, former CMS administrator, chalks up the surge of Medicare Advantage offerings in recent years to the system being a "money machine" for payers. 

A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that seven in 10 (71 percent) of Medicare beneficiaries did not shop around among plans during the 2018 open enrollment period.