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The California Health Care Services Department is investigating Centene Corp. in relation to its management of Medicaid drug benefits, according to a Kaiser Health News report that ran in the Los Angeles Times. Centene last year acquired Magellan Health, which administrates California’s Medicaid prescriptions. Centene’s health insurance units currently serve 1,702,364 Medicaid beneficiaries in California.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) last week signed into law the Health Can’t Wait Act, which decreases wait times for health care services and prescriptions that require prior authorization. The bill also obligates insurers to provide its members with more information about the prior authorization process. Approximately 10.5 million people have full medical coverage in Michigan, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (4,520,146 lives), Priority Health (1,138,268 lives) and UnitedHealthcare (756,330 lives) serving as the state’s three largest insurers.

The Biden administration on April 1 unveiled a new Medicaid enhancement, allowing states to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage to postpartum beneficiaries for an additional 12 months. The new plan could impact as many as 720,000 people, according to CMS. Louisiana is the first state to begin offering this form of coverage, estimated to impact about 14,000 people. The state currently serves 1,941,505 Medicaid beneficiaries, with 91.5% enrolled in a managed care plan. Nine other states are also working on implementing the program.

Two nonprofit health systems, Salt Lake City’s Intermountain Healthcare and Broomfield, C.O.-based SCL Health, have completed their planned merger, according to an April 5 press release. The combined $11 billion system operates 33 hospitals and 385 clinics in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Kansas. Intermountain also operates Utah’s largest insurer, SelectHealth, which currently enrolls 32.2% of the state’s overall insurance market with 825,108 lives.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) on April 4 signed into law a bill that requires health insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse care as if it were traditional medical care. The new law will go into effect in July. More than 10 million people have full medical coverage in Georgia, with Anthem, Inc. (3,183,977 lives), Centene Corp. (1,406,039 lives) and UnitedHealthcare (917,764 lives) serving as the three largest insurers.

The FDA last week granted a first-in-class nod to Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta for the treatment of large B-cell lymphoma that is refractory to one prior therapy or that relapses within 12 months of first-line chemoimmunotherapy. Gilead eked out the victory ahead of Bristol Myers Squibb’s rival CAR-T drug Breyanzi for the same indication. Breyanzi’s review is set for this June. Yescarta was first approved for the treatment of large B-cell lymphoma that has not responded at least two other kinds of treatment in October 2017. For this indication, Yescarta holds covered or better status under the medical benefit for 78% of all insured lives.

Following Humana’s lead, UnitedHealth Group last week announced its health services arm Optum is set to acquire LHC Group, a large home care and hospice provider, for $5.4 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022. UnitedHealth currently operates the largest commercial health insurer in the U.S., with 45,814,482 members.

The FDA has delayed its review of Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck’s Reblozyl for anemia from non-transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia until late June, according to a news release from BMS. The agency said it needs the extra time as a “written response to an information request was determined by the FDA to constitute a major amendment,” though BMS did not reveal what the information request entails. For the treatment of transfusion-dependent anemia-associated beta thalassemia, Reblozyl holds covered or better status for 58% of all insured lives under the pharmacy benefit. Under the medical benefit, 83% of all insured lives have covered or better access to Reblozyl.

Florida Blue this week unveiled a new in-home primary care program for its Medicare Advantage members in partnership with Emcara Health. Florida Blue members in 17 counties, including the Orlando, Tampa and Miami metro areas, will be eligible for the new benefits, which include home-based primary care doctors, in-home nursing visits and community health workers who can facilitate transportation and meal benefits. Florida Blue parent company GuideWell currently serves 181,575 MA lives in the state.

Belgian biopharma company UCB scored an expanded label for its drug Fintepla. The FDA this week approved Fintepla for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy, in patients 2 and older. The drug will have to face off against Jazz Pharmaceuticals groundbreaking cannabinoid Epidiolex, which was first approved for Lennox-Gastaut in 2018. For the treatment of epilepsy, Fintepla and Epidiolex are covered at parity for 71.8% of all insured lives.