The following payers made headlines this week, beginning with the most recent.
1. Health Partners Plans hires Eric Huss as CEO
Managed care organization Philadelphia-based Health Partners Plans selected Eric Huss to serve as executive vice president of finance and administration.
2. Anthem to drop 2018 individual exchange plans in Ohio
Cincinnati-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio will no longer sell individual coverage on the state's ACA exchange by 2018, leaving residents in at least 18 counties without an exchange option next year.
3. Recovery Centers of America, BCBS of Massachusetts finalize contract for Boston office
King of Prussia, Pa.-based Recovery Centers of America, a provider of addiction treatment services, inked a coverage agreement with Boston-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts for its Danvers, Mass.-based Boston Center for Addiction Treatment.
4. Federal court denies UnitedHealth's protest of $58B Tricare contracts
The Court of Federal Claims upheld the U.S. Department of Defense's $58 billion military healthcare contract bids with Louisville, Ky.-based Humana and Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Health Net, rejecting Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group's challenge of the deal.
5. Unified Partners CEO: Medical education system, privately owned hospital systems and major pharma companies fuel high healthcare costs
Unified Partners CEO Steve Doletzky said political chaos and scandal are keeping politicians from focusing on some of the issues impacting the healthcare industry.
6. Molina Healthcare of New Mexico taps Daniel Sorrells to serve as president
Molina Healthcare of New Mexico, based in Albuquerque, named Daniel Sorrells its permanent president.
7. Aetna opens Mindfulness Center for employees
Insurance giant Aetna has opened its first mindfulness center at its headquarters in Hartford, Conn.
8. Illinois regulators to conduct 1st broad review of BCBS in 27 years
Illinois will conduct a broad market examination of Chicago-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois' compliance with consumer protection regulations, a move it hasn't pursued since 1990.
9. Payer startup led by former UnitedHealthcare CEO gets $160M investment
Minneapolis-based health insurance startup Bright Health secured $160 million in a Series B funding round.
10. BCBS of Massachusetts executive named to MedPAC
The U.S. Comptroller General and U.S. Government Accountability Office head appointed Dana Gelb Safran, chief performance measurement and improvement officer and senior vice president of enterprise analytics at Boston-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, to serve on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
11. BCBS of Nebraska to drop last 2 ACA individual plans
Omaha-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska will ditch its final two ACA-compliant individual health plans in 2018.
12. Saint Francis Muskogee, BCBS of Oklahoma terminate provider contract
Saint Francis Muskogee (Okla.) and Tulsa-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma ended their interim in-network agreement May 31.
13. Tenet-owned health plan divests Texas membership to BCBS
San Antonio-based Allegian Health Plans, a wholly-owned managed care subsidiary of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, divested 20,000 Medicare and commercial group members to Richardson-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
14. 3 executive moves at Cigna
Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna appointed individuals to lead three of its U.S. markets.
15. Tenet, Humana amend effective date of contract
Tenet Healthcare and Louisville, Ky.-based Humana amended their multiyear provider network agreement to take effect June 1.