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Michigan is rebidding managed Medicaid contracts that serve about 2.2 million lives, according to an Aug. 22 press release from the state. “We want to provide Michiganders served by Medicaid health plans with a more equitable, coordinated and person-centered system of care,” Elizabeth Hertel, state HHS director, said in the statement.” Contracts for the rebidded program are scheduled to be implemented Oct. 1, 2024. Michigan’s Medicaid managed care plans currently serve 2,316,164 lives, with Centene leading the pack at 23.9% market share. Molina Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and UnitedHealthcare, among other insurers, also serve the program.

Independence Blue Cross is teaming up with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance in a campaign to get more Black Philadelphians screened for colorectal cancer. The “45+ Reasons” campaign will aim to get more than 5,000 Black Philadelphia residents ages 45-75 to undergo screenings, in a bid to reduce the “significantly higher incidence and mortality rates” of colorectal cancer among Black Americans. The initiative “leverages authentic voices and stories to encourage Black individuals to seek information and screening options for colorectal cancer while breaking the stigma associated with the disease,” Independence said in an Aug. 8 press release. Independence Blue Cross is currently the second-largest insurer in Pennsylvania, serving 2,100,951 members. Its public-sector focused affiliate insurer, AmeriHealth Caritas, serves an additional 1,078,817 members.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank issued an order “permanently” banning New York City from pushing some 250,000 retirees and their dependents into a private Medicare Advantage plan managed by CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna.  In a decision issued Aug. 11, Frank ordered that the city be “permanently enjoined from requiring any City retirees and their dependents from being removed from their current health insurance plan(s), and from being required to either enroll in an Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan or seek their own health coverage.” Frank previously ruled that the proposal violated city law by charging retirees $191 per month to maintain their fee-for-service Medicare coverage. The City plans to appeal the decision. Aetna is currently the third-largest MA insurer in New York, serving 219,812 members.

The FDA last week approved Pfizer’s Elrexfio for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in adult patients that have received at least four prior lines of treatment, “including a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.” The drug will face off against Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli, another BCMA-directed bispecific antibody. Both drugs are administered as subcutaneous injections, though Elrexfio may edge out Tecvayli on convenience. The J&J therapy requires weekly administration, while Elrexfio is given biweekly. For the treatment of multiple myeloma, Tecvayli currently holds covered or better status for 85% of all insured lives under the medical benefit. About 21% of lives have preferred access to Tecvayli.

Blue Shield of California on Aug. 17 unveiled plans for a new pharmacy care model that aims to boost transparency and affordability for members. Namely, the insurer is swapping PBMs — trading CVS Caremark for Amazon Pharmacy and Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co. CVS will continue to manage specialty pharmacy benefits, however. “We are working with like-minded partners to create a completely new, more transparent system that gets the right drugs to the right people at the right time at a substantially lower cost,” Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California, said in a statement. The Blues affiliate is currently the fifth-largest insurer in California, with 3,031,854 enrollees. Nearly 70% of its members are enrolled in commercial risk-based products.

Salt Lake City-based health system Intermountain Health is partnering with Kroger to launch co-branded Medicare Advantage products for the 2024 plan year. Benefits will leverage savings at Kroger’s grocery stores and in-store pharmacies, increasing “access to options and services that promote health and wellness,” according to an Aug. 15 press release. Plans will be available in select counties across Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. Intermountain’s insurance arm, SelectHealth, currently serves 49,093 lives across the Mountain West.

New Mexico on Aug. 11 announced its intention to award managed Medicaid contracts to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, Presbyterian Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare and Molina Healthcare. Presbyterian and BCBSNM are incumbents, while United and Molina are new to the program. Notably missing from the list is Centene Corp.’s Western Sky Community Care, which currently serves 91,157 Medicaid lives in the state. The current program, Centennial Care 2.0, will be renamed Turquoise Care when it launches July 1, 2024, and will integrate physical health, behavioral health and long-term care services, while emphasizing social determinants of health. Of New Mexico’s 844,658 full-risk Medicaid beneficiaries, 92.3% are enrolled in a managed care plan.

Cigna Healthcare on Aug. 10 said it is partnering with Virgin Pulse to create an individualized digital health platform for a large swath of its membership — about 11 million lives. The Virgin Pulse platform will allow members to track daily individual variables related to mental, physical and social health, such as exercise, sleep and weight. In addition, “myCigna can connect them to other relevant programs available through their Cigna Healthcare benefits, such as pre-diabetes management or behavioral health services,” based on logged data and prior claims. The technology will be available to select employer group plans effective Jan. 1, 2024. Cigna is currently the fifth-largest insurer in the risk-based employer group market, with 2,218,193 members. It has an additional 13,693,654 enrolled in non-risk self-funded plans.

Independence Blue Cross (IBX) on Aug. 10 unveiled efforts to form a coalition of hospitals and providers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that will evaluate 15 clinical decision support tools “that adjust results based on a person’s race, potentially causing delays and inequities in care,” per a press release. The companies plan on eliminating the use of race as a variable in some of those tools and discussing alternatives that “do not reinforce a biological understanding of race.” The group is called the Regional Coalition to Eliminate Race-Based Medicine and includes Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Doylestown Health, Grand View Health, Jefferson Health, Main Line Health, Nemours Children’s Health, Penn Medicine, Redeemer Health, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Temple Health, Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic and Virtua Health. IBX is currently the second-largest insurer in Pennsylvania, serving 2,100,951 members. Its public-sector focused affiliate insurer, AmeriHealth Caritas, serves an additional 1,078,817 members.

Oscar Health can resume enrolling Affordable Care Act exchange members in Florida, executives said during the company’s Aug. 8 second-quarter earnings call. The startup initially paused open enrollment in December 2022, citing “strong…performance to date” and market exits from other carriers. Oscar is currently the second-largest exchange insurer in Florida, behind Florida Blue, with 564,569 members. The company saw $1.5 billion in revenue during the second quarter, and shrunk year-over-year losses to just $15.5 million. That’s a significant decrease from the $112.2 million it reported in the second quarter of 2022.