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Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and Minot, N.D.-based health system Trinity Health will partner to offer a tiered health plan for the 2024 plan year. The plan will be available to individuals, families and employer groups in 11 North Dakota counties. The first tier limits members to Trinity’s providers for in-network services, with the remaining three tiers growing more expensive, but allowing coverage for outside providers. “Tiered network plan premiums are on average 15% lower than comparable traditional plans, because insurance providers partner with the preferred tier to offer lower health care costs for members,” the insurer wrote in a statement. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota is currently the largest payer in its home state, serving 319,856 members, or 42.1% of the state’s insured population.

Tech-focused Medicare Advantage insurer Alignment Healthcare is partnering with Walgreens to launch co-branded MA products for the 2024 plan year. The $0 premium plans, which grant members over-the-counter benefits at Walgreens locations, plus online and via mail-order, will be available in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. The plans also offer $0 copays on more than 10,000 medications, according to a press release. Founded in 2013, Alignment currently enrolls 112,639 MA and dual eligible members in six states.

The Cigna Group’s Evernorth division said on Oct. 10 that it acquired Bright.md, which provides “asynchronous care, triage, and health care navigation services.” The new acquisition’s capabilities will be added to Evernorth’s existing telehealth platform, MDLIVE, starting in 2024, the company said. Once the two telehealth offerings are combined, patients seeking care will be guided through a “digital clinical interview” that is then converted into a comprehensive chart note — rather than going immediately to a real-time clinician interaction. A clinician then will review the patient’s responses and offer a diagnosis, care plan or prescription, or the patient will be connected “to a different modality or setting for care when clinically appropriate.” Cigna is currently the fifth-largest insurer in the U.S., serving 17,407,225 members.

United Health Group “posted its best quarter” of 2023 when it reported financial results on Oct. 13, Jefferies analyst David Windley asserted in a research note. The diversified health care giant’s adjusted earnings per share for the quarter, $6.56, beat the Wall Street consensus estimate of $6.33, and its revenues of $92.4 billion beat the consensus estimate of $91.4 billion. UnitedHealth’s medical loss ratio, 82.3%, was also lower (better) than the consensus estimate of 82.8%. The insurer is the largest in the U.S., with 48,071,434 members.

Cleveland-based health system University Hospitals will partner with another Northeast Ohio system, Aultman Health, to offer Medicare Advantage products for the 2024 plan year. The plans, which leverage University Hospitals’ network of 22 regional medical centers and more than 200 primary care locations, will be available in Cuyahoga, Lake and Lorain counties. Aultman’s AultCare Insurance Company currently serves 13,907 MA members in Ohio.

Minneapolis-based HealthPartners, an integrated provider-sponsored payer, is launching a new preventive care-focused, digital hybrid product for the 2024 plan year. The new plan aims to increase access to health screenings and immunizations, with members completing a digital health assessment about their health history and current status. The insurer in an Oct. 9 news release said the hybrid offering could save employers up to 15% on premiums. HealthPartners is currently the second-largest insurer in Minnesota, serving 861,954 members.

Bristol Myers Squibb last week entered a $5.8 billion deal to acquire Mirati Therapeutics. Mirati’s leading drug is its KRAS G12C inhibitor Krazati, according to data from Evaluate Pharma. “With multiple targeted oncology assets including Krazati, Mirati is another important step forward in our efforts to grow our diversified oncology portfolio,” Chris Boerner, BMS’s CEO-elect, said in an Oct. 8 statement. The drug received accelerated approval from the FDA in December 2022 for the treatment of KRAS G12C-mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and Evaluate projects the drug will see $109 million in global sales in 2024. For the treatment of NSCLC, Krazati holds covered or better status for 67% of all insured lives under the pharmacy benefit.

CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna on Dec. 1 will end commercial coverage of approximately 80 types of virtual care, Modern Healthcare reported Oct. 5, citing a bulletin sent to health care providers last month. Those virtual care services range from behavioral care services to ophthalmological care to services related to end-stage renal disease. Additionally, Aetna will end audio-only coverage of nearly 60 services such as psychotherapy treatment, counseling for alcohol misuse and obesity counseling. Aetna currently enrolls 4,033,998 members in commercial risk-based products and 14,114,000 members in self-funded plans.

Philadelphia-based health system Jefferson Health’s insurance arm, Jefferson Health Plans, will enter Pennsylvania’s Affordable Care Act exchange market for the 2024 plan year, according to a Sept. 29 report in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Plans will be available in three counties: Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery. The three largest exchange insurers in Pennsylvania are Independence Blue Cross (114,200 members), Highmark Health (84,151 members) and UPMC Health Plan (80,000 members).

Elevance Health Inc.’s CarelonRx PBM division will automatically apply the same pricing as publicly available coupons “on more than 50 generic medications that are typically used by consumers with a discount card,” the company said in a Sept. 19 press release. Through the program, dubbed EnsureRx, “commercial members will simply use their pharmacy member ID card at a retail pharmacy as normal, and EnsureRx will identify and apply the lowest cost available to them on select generic medications.” Medications filled under the EnsureRx program will still count toward a member’s deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, the press release said. Elevance currently serves 6,348,000 members in commercial risk-based products, and 20,160,000 in self-funded plans.