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Amazon, Walmart join providers in pushing Senate to extend telehealth policies
Major healthcare disruptors Amazon and Walmart have joined a chorus of hospitals, provider groups and telehealth organizations in pressing the U.S. Senate to extend telehealth flexibilities, such as removing in-person requirements for virtual behaviora…
Blue Cross NC’s value-based program saved $130 million in 2021
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s Blue Premier program, which emphasizes value-based healthcare, has saved members about $130 million in health costs in 2021, and almost $500 million total since the program first launched three years ago, …
YouTube, KFF partnering on health equity streaming content
YouTube and the Kaiser Family Foundation are joining forces on a new program geared toward nonprofit organizations, with an emphasis on creating educational videos about inequities in healthcare, including behavioral health and maternal care.
AMA joins class-action lawsuit accusing Cigna of underpaying claims
The American Medical Association is accusing health insurer Cigna of underpaying claims filed by providers in the contracted MultiPlan network, the largest third-party network in the country. The AMA has joined a class-action lawsuit alleging the insur…
HHS approves first Medicaid mobile crisis intervention program in Oregon
In the realm of mobile crisis interventions, the state of Oregon will be getting a boost from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has announced approval of the Oregon Health Aut…
Most physicians unsure of when abortion is legally protected
Almost three quarters of physicians, 74%, say they’re unclear on what constitutes a life-threatening emergency that would allow a doctor to legally perform an abortion in states where it is otherwise banned, a new survey has found.
Aetna expanding to ACA exchanges in four new states
Aetna will now be in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges in 12 states after adding four more states to that total, the insurer said.
California, Delaware, Illinois and New Jersey have been added to Aetna’s slate for the 2023 plan year, joining Arizona,…
Rural hospitals in trouble if Congress doesn’t renew funding programs, AHA says
Between 2010 and 2021, 136 rural hospitals closed, according to the UNC Cecil G. Sheps Center. Nineteen of these closures occurred in 2020, the most of any year in the past decade.
Envision suing UnitedHealthcare over denied claims; UHC countersuing
Physician firm Envision Healthcare has filed a lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare over the insurer’s denied claims, sparking a countersuit from UHC, which claimed Envision fraudulently upcoded claims for services provided to UHC members.
Consumers willing to pay more for quality healthcare, survey finds
Quality can go a long way in determining if a consumer is willing to pay more for their healthcare, as indicated by new survey responses published by revenue cycle company AKASA.
Out of more than 2,000 respondents, the survey found that 57% would pay m…
