OVERVIEW - This report proposes a vision and plan for action—collectively a statewide Health Equity Action Plan—for achieving a racially and ethnically equitable health care delivery system in Massachusetts. The report is...more
As 2017 drew to a close, some health plans and healthcare providers across the country were still busy trying to finalize contracts for in-network services for 2018 and beyond. A number of negotiations made the headlines in...more
As the trend of acquisitions of physician practices and mergers of hospitals continues, so does antitrust scrutiny of these deals. There was activity this week in three different proposed transactions that caught the...more
After fending off a motion for judgment on the pleadings in March 2015, a small hospital in Peoria, Illinois lost on summary judgment in its $300 million antitrust suit alleging illegal exclusive dealing and attempted...more
Newkirk Products Inc., which provides ID cards and management services for healthcare organizations, including multiple Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations, has announced that it has discovered that its computer system was...more
The latest development in how American courts will handle the standing question for data breach class actions came last week when the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed for lack of standing a putative...more
New study shows Marketplace premiums parallel the employer market; Montana likely to select a private insurer to administer benefits to its Medicaid expansion population; and Washington’s Exchange customers will begin paying...more
Yesterday, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, located in Rochester, NY, announced that it will notify up to 10 million members that it was the victim of a cyber-attack dating back to December of 2013 that exposed their members’...more
CMS permits states to use income information from other means-tested benefit programs for Medicaid eligibility determinations; Alaska’s Medicaid expansion is given the green light to launch today; and Washington State submits...more
BREAKING NEWS: Health insurer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield disclosed today that hackers gained access to one of its databases, exposing personally identifiable information for approximately 1.1 million people....more
After objecting to the release of hospital reimbursement rates mandated under North Carolina’s Health Care Cost Reduction and Transparency Act of 2013 (NCGS Section 131E-214.5), Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina...more
Anthem Blue Cross and seven competing hospital systems in Southern California are joining forces to establish a new health plan offering, Vivity.[1] Operating with a combined 14 hospitals and approximately 6,000 physicians,...more
In This Issue: - FTC COMMISSIONER CRITICIZES PROPOSED LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PERMIT HEALTH PROVIDERS TO NEGOTIATE JOINTLY WITH HEALTH INSURERS: In a February 26 speech before the Connecticut Bar Association,...more
In early November, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant rescinded an Executive Order (Executive Order 1327), issued only weeks earlier, that would have compelled Blue Cross of Mississippi to continue to offer “in-network” status...more