News Briefs

✦ CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield plans to acquire two Medicaid managed care organizations in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas, respectively. CareFirst on Dec. 20 said it reached separate definitive agreements with Trusted Health Plan, a Medicaid MCO operating exclusively in Washington, D.C., and University of Maryland Health Partners, which serves 47,000 Medicaid enrollees in 20 Maryland counties and Baltimore. The latter is owned by the University of Maryland Medical System, which also offers a Medicare Advantage plan that was not part of the transaction. Trusted began operations in 2013 and covers more than 34,000 enrollees; the company sold its Michigan managed Medicaid business to Health Alliance Plan in June 2019 (RMA 6/20/19, p. 8). View the announcement at https://bit.ly/2uar20l.

✦ In its first partnership with a managed Medicaid plan, Fitbit this month kicked off a new wellness program with WellCare of Georgia Medicaid. Amy McDonough, senior vice president and general manager for Fitbit Health Solutions, in a LinkedIn blog post explained that approximately 4,000 WellCare members with type 2 diabetes will be eligible to receive a Fitbit Inspire device, along with educational materials and activity challenges through Fitbit’s platform. The aim of the new program is to help members adopt healthier behaviors to better manage their diabetes, she wrote. This builds on the company’s growing number of partnerships in the Medicare Advantage market. Fitbit said its devices will be included in MA plans offered this year by three insurers, including as an embedded benefit in 59 plans offered by UnitedHealthcare across 27 states. Visit https://bit.ly/2QG5XSZ.

© 2024 MMIT
Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren Flynn Kelly Managing Editor, Radar on Medicare Advantage

Lauren has been covering health business issues, including drug benefits and specialty pharmacy, for more than a decade. She served as editor of Drug Benefit News (the predecessor to Radar on Drug Benefits) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016, and now manages Radar on Medicare Advantage. Lauren graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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