Humana-owned Partners in Primary Care is opening 20 primary care centers in the next year as it begins phase one of its three-year expansion plan, the medical group said June 2.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is offering providers a claim advancement program that will provide three-month loans to providers who are experiencing significant cash strains related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Houston Methodist officially inked a multiyear contract with UnitedHealthcare that took effect June 1, according to the Houston Chronicle. 

Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group and its team members will donate $10 million to honor George Floyd, a black man who died Memorial Day in the custody of Minneapolis police.

Five healthcare companies were awarded contracts to manage Kentucky's Medicaid health plan, Gov. Andy Beshear said May 29.

Uncertainty induced by COVID-19 is complicating the job of health plan actuaries, who are currently making financial decisions about costs, premiums and benefits for 2021. Steven Lieberman, a nonresident fellow at the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy, expects actuaries to raise plan bids for 2021 — but offers proposals to limit the amount of uncertainty when it comes to bidding.

CMS released a proposed rule May 29 to change the methodology of HHS' risk adjustment data validation, or RADV, program.

Cigna is eliminating cost-sharing for all in-person and virtual primary care, specialty care and behavioral healthcare visits for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care, the payer said June 1. 

The following payer executives changed their positions in May.

The health insurance industry has changed how it reimburses for telemedicine and diagnostic testing for COVID-19-related services. Maureen Sullivan, chief strategy and innovation officer at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, told Yahoo Finance the industry is likely to see more widespread change related to reimbursement as telemedicine use and testing climb.

Cigna is providing employers a new opportunity to help employees who may need financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., sent a letter to the CEO of UnitedHealth Group May 26 that questioned whether the health insurance company has moved to narrow its provider network and decrease reimbursement during the pandemic.

Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine and UnitedHealth Group have partnered to launch a digital mental health program called Cobalt.

Delaware insurance officials have ordered actions to address reports of premium errors among some Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield members with supplemental Medicare coverage.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is sending its customers more than $100 million in rebates this year as the insurer sees significantly fewer claims for healthcare services deferred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Houston Methodist facilities and physicians are moving back into UnitedHealthcare's network after roughly six months of a negotiation impasse, according to the Houston Chronicle. 

Humana will collaborate with Healthmap Solutions, a population health management company that has expertise in kidney health, to provide some of its members with kidney disease care coordination services. 

Fourteen million members in Cigna's employer-sponsored health plans can now talk and text with on-demand licensed therapists through a partnership with online and mobile therapy company Talkspace. 

Some of the nation's largest commercial payers have seen their stocks fall slightly this year, while others have seen gains despite new pressures presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

NovuHealth named Steve Wigginton, a former executive with Sutter Health | Aetna, as CEO of the consumer engagement company.