Supreme Court Agrees to Decide if PBMs Fall Under ERISA
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that observers say ultimately could upend state-based efforts to regulate PBMs and potentially even lead to legislation on the federal level to rein them in. The lawsuit, ...
UnitedHealth Owes Strong 2019 Results to UHC, Optum Units
UnitedHealth Group beat analysts’ earnings-per-share estimate for 2019’s fourth quarter, driven by strong performance in both its UnitedHealthcare and Optum segments.
For the full 2019 calendar year, earnings...
Individual Insurance Market Had Profitable, Stable Performance in 2019
The individual insurance market’s financial performance remained stable in the first nine months of 2019, despite the repeal of the individual mandate tax penalty, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Fami...
News Briefs
✦ The Trump administration and Republican state attorneys general filed a countermotion against a bid by Democratic state attorneys general and House Democrats to speed the Supreme Court’s review of the U.S. Cou...
2020 Outlook: For Insurers, There’s More Than One ACA Court Case to Watch Chart: Texas v. United States: A Look Back
Though the upcoming elections will shine a bright spotlight this year on the health care policy positions of lawmakers and the Trump administration, the courts will play just as big of a role — if not more — tha...
AHIP Launches Pilot to Field-Test Automated Prior Authorization
Health insurer trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is partnering with six insurers to test systems and technology designed to automate parts of the prior authorization process in a bid to develop b...
Wall Street Analysts Are Mostly Bullish on 2020 Outlook for MCOs
Analysts from major financial institutions are cautiously optimistic about the value of managed care organization stocks during 2020, citing a more stable regulatory environment and rising revenues across the indust...
MCO Stock Performance, December 2019
Click here for a pdf of the full issue...
News Briefs
✦ Startup health care company Bright Health said Jan. 8 that it signed an agreement to acquire the California-based, family-owned health plan Universal Care, which is doing business as Brand New Day. Brand New Day...
2020 Outlook: M&A May Slow Somewhat, but Prime Targets Still Abound
The pace of health care mergers and acquisitions — which ran at a fever pitch in 2018 and 2019 with multiple high-profile and high-value transactions — likely will cool slightly in 2020, given lofty asset prices...