COVID Factor Could Both Raise, Reduce ACA Rates Next Year
As health insurers gear up for the 2022 rate-filing season for Affordable Care Act exchange plans, the good news is that much of the regulatory uncertainty seen in years past has dissipated — save for a looming Su...
Many Insurers Don’t Plan to Raise Rates Because of COVID
by Jinghong Chen
More than half of insurers surveyed said they do not anticipate raising health plan premiums due to the pandemic, according to a recent poll conducted by eHealth, Inc. The private insurance marketp...
News Briefs
✦ After being confirmed by the Senate, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure was sworn in as the new CMS administrator on May 27 by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Chiquita Brooks-LaSure’s historic appointment and confirmatio...
Newly Public Startup Insurers All Post First-Quarter Losses
Three startup health insurers that became public companies this year — Oscar Health, Inc., Clover Health Investments, Corp. and Alignment Healthcare, Inc. — recently unveiled their first-quarter 2021 financial r...
Moves to Block Medicaid Expansion May Spell Trouble for MCOs
Across the country, conservative state officials are going further than ever to thwart Medicaid expansion, taking steps to reverse successful ballot initiatives, reforming processes to block ballot measures before t...
Providers, but Not Payers, Back MA Prior Authorization Bill
A recently reintroduced bipartisan bill would push health insurers to make “real-time” prior authorization determinations for Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Suzan D...
News Briefs
✦ Following on the heels of fellow startup insurers Alignment Healthcare, Inc., Clover Health Investments, Corp. and Oscar Health, Inc., Bright Health Group, Inc. on May 19 filed preliminary paperwork for an initi...
New Employer-Facing Products Try to Make Health Care Simpler With Chart: Many Large Employers Want Government to Help Control Health Care Costs
With many companies currently hammering out what their employee benefits will look like in 2022, some health insurers are hoping to woo clients by rolling out products that promise to make navigating the health care...
More States Consider Public Option in Bid to Lower Costs
With a nationwide public option now looking unlikely under President Joe Biden, an increasing number of states are trying to implement their own government-sponsored alternative to commercial insurance in a bid to l...
Cigna Is Bullish on Individual, Smaller Group Markets
While Cigna Corp. credited its Evernorth health services division as the primary driving force behind its strong first-quarter 2021 earnings, the company’s management and equities analysts alike seemed satisfied b...