News Briefs
✦ Cigna Corp. will offer Affordable Care Act exchange plans in 80 new counties in 2021, reaching 27% more customers in that market, the company said on Sept. 9. The insurer’s ACA marketplace footprint will comprise 10 states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. Cigna said its 2021 marketplace plans will feature $0 virtual care “that now includes behavioral health providers,” a new plan that offers no-cost diabetes equipment and supplies, and “coverage for holistic services including acupuncture in select counties.” Read more at https://bit.ly/35nrkBx.
✦ Humana Inc. on Sept. 10 rolled out two value-based programs that will be available for select Medicare Advantage plans. The Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Episode-Based Model is a bundled payment initiative designed to improve quality, outcomes and cost across an entire episode of care for patients undergoing heart bypass surgery. And the Total Shoulder Specialist Rewards Program offers clinicians additional payment for achieving better health outcomes and for lowering costs by incentivizing independent surgeons to perform shoulder replacement procedures at ambulatory surgical centers when it’s clinically appropriate. Humana already has two other orthopedic value-based programs: one for total hip and knee replacement surgeries and one for spinal fusion procedures. See https://bwnews.pr/3m8Rkqd.