News Briefs
✦ In addition to offering premium discounts and/or rebates to commercial enrollees as a result of higher earnings during the COVID-19 pandemic, several Blues plans at press time unveiled premium-relief actions for Medicare Advantage enrollees. BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts, for one, said it would give MA members a one-month “premium holiday” before the end of 2020. As part of a plan to provide $70 million in premium rebates and discounts, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota said it would extend about $38 million in premium relief to Medicare members, people who purchase individual health plans and certain business customers through one-time credits of 10% to 25%, according to the Star Tribune. And Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan last month issued about $15 million in refunds to Medicare Supplement and individual MA customers in the form of premium credits for March and April that were applied to their July premium bill, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). Visit AHIP’s ongoing summary page of insurers’ COVID-19 response actions at https://bit.ly/3iXsLdL.
✦ Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare and Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health have signed a letter of intent to combine their regional, community-based health systems. Sentara, an integrated, not-for-profit system comprising 12 hospitals in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, operates the Optima Health and Virginia Premier health plans, which have about 700,000 Medicaid members combined. Cone Health, a not-for-profit integrated health care network consisting of five hospitals in North Carolina, has a Medicare Advantage plan, HealthTeam Advantage, that serves 15,000 members. The combination is anticipated to close in mid-2021. Visit https://bit.ly/3iOEYBe.
