Datapoint: Intermountain to Close 25 Utah Pharmacies
Intermountain Healthcare last week said it will close 25 of its Utah retail pharmacies next month, citing low usage. Current prescriptions and inventory will be transferred to CVS locations. Intermountain’s ...
Datapoint: Iowa Seeking Third Medicaid MCO
Iowa is looking to add a third managed care organization to its Medicaid managed care program, according to a report from Iowa Public Radio. The state will begin accepting applications for the RFP in December. Iowa...
Datapoint: Clover Health to Offer Grocery Benefit
Startup insurer Clover Health is partnering with WalMart to offer $300 to $500 in grocery benefits to its Medicare Advantage (MA) members, beginning this August. CMS added this flexible benefit in 2018. Clov...
Datapoint: Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield to Begin Offering MA Products in 2022
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield in June unveiled plans to begin offering Medicare Advantage (MA) products in Iowa and South Dakota. The new MA org, Wellmark Advantage Health Plan, will begin offering produ...
Datapoint: Louisiana Releases Medicaid RFP
Louisiana last week issued a request for proposals (RFP), inviting managed care organizations to bid on new contracts to serve the state’s Medicaid managed care program. More than 1.7 million people are curren...
Datapoint: Anthem Completes MMM Holdings Deal
Anthem, Inc. last week completed its purchase of InnovaCare Health’s MMM Holdings, the largest Medicare Advantage organization in Puerto Rico. MMM currently enrolls 272,367 Medicare Advantage and dual eligible...
Datapoint: Bright Health IPO Raises $924M
Startup insurer Bright Health made $924.3 million during its initial public offering (IPO) last week, the most successful launch of any of the recent insurer IPOs. The company is now valued at $11.23 billion, ac...
Datapoint: Actemra Granted EUA for Use in COVID Patients
The FDA last week granted Roche’s Actemra an emergency use authorization to treat both adult and juvenile patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The arthritis drug was previously approved for compassionate use, bu...
Datapoint: Biden’s CMS Pulls Work Requirement Approvals from Arizona, Indiana
The Biden administration last week revoked work requirement approvals in two more states — Arizona and Indiana. The reforms had yet to be implemented in either state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Arizona curren...
Datapoint: Amgen Suffers Another Repatha Patent Setback
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last week declined to hear Amgen’s appeal to reconsider a key patent loss for its PCSK9 drug Repatha. This is just the latest chapter in a saga that dates back to ...