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| Anthem, Inc. News |
| Indian American ‘Rising Healthcare Stars’ Named in Becker’s Annual Healthcare List |
| 8/24/2018 India West |
| Eapen is the chief medical officer of Cerritos, Calif.-based CareMore Health. At CareMore Health, he leads care delivery, clinical strategy and clinical innovation across the organization. Eapen led CareMore’s annual flu campaign, which includes more than 400 events at CareMore’s numerous clinics across the U.S. Under his guidance, more patients received the flu vaccine halfway through the campaign than during previous years’ full campaigns. |
| Blue Plan News |
| Payers, Providers Create New Medicare Advantage Partnerships: Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Indiana grows its Medicare Advantage Network – Indiana |
| 8/24/2018 Health Payer Intelligence |
| Beaton, Thomas |
| Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Indiana added a community hospital and an independent hospital to its Medicare Advantage network to help increase provider options for beneficiaries. On August 2018, Sullivan County Community Hospital (SCCH) and Dekalb Health became in-network providers for Anthem’s Indiana MA beneficiaries. “Anthem is pleased SCCH will be joining our care provider network, which will help further ensure consumers have a broader selection of cost-effective options when seeking medical care,” said David McNichols, President of Anthem’s Medicare Central Region. |
| Blue Cross of Georgia changing its name – Georgia |
| 8/24/2018 The Newnan Times-Herald |
| The state’s largest health insurer is changing its name, but it’s not a total revamp. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia will become Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield – effective Jan. 1, 2019, the company announced. Anthem, based in Indianapolis, is the parent company of the Georgia insurer. “We are excited to take Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield as our new brand name,” Jeff Fusile, president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, wrote in a prepared statement. “The Anthem brand reflects what consumers are looking for in their health care partner — simplicity, accessibility and affordability. |
| Woodbury Middle School Students Meet Lindsey Davenport at Girls Symposium – Connecticut |
| 8/26/2018 Woodbury Mag |
| Parry, Tim |
| A group of 6 girls from Woodbury Middle School got the chance to meet Lindsey Davenport, the former top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world, last week at the Connecticut Open. The girls met Davenport at the 2018 Anthem Girls Symposium, an annual panel discussion for more than 100 female student athletes. Davenport led the discussion, entitled “Championing Your Own Success” and sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut. |
| Competitor and Industry News |
| Cigna, Express Scripts shareholders approve $52 billion deal |
| 8/24/2018 Reuters |
| Humer, Caroline |
| Cigna shareholders on Friday voted in favor of the health insurer’s proposed $52 billion acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding, although the deal still needs clearance from antitrust authorities. The vote in favor of the merger was on expected lines after activist investor Carl Icahn walked away last week from his 11th-hour attempt to rally shareholders to reject the deal. |
| Antitrust Battle Next For Cigna After Shareholders Approve Express Scripts Deal |
| 8/24/2018 Forbes Online |
| Japsen, Bruce |
| Cigna and Express Scripts shareholders Friday approved the insurer’s acquisition of the pharmacy benefit manager, leaving the deal in the hands of antitrust regulators as the merger’s next key hurdle. Once billionaire investor Carl Icahn backed off his effort to derail the deal, shareholder approval became a formality given key proxy advisors gave the merger their blessing. |
| From ‘screw you’ Aetna to Sweet 16, teen celebrates her surgery — and new life |
| 8/23/2018 CNN Online |
| Drash, Wayne |
| Cara became a viral sensation months ago after the teen with a seizure disorder delivered a blunt message to her insurer. Her two words for Aetna — "screw you" — expressed the anger she felt at being denied a minimally invasive brain surgery that promised to end her seizures. Her story, first told by CNN in December, triggered a massive uproar, and Aetna eventually approved the procedure. |
| University of Chicago, Humana partner to serve MA members |
| 8/24/2018 Health Exec |
| Baxter, Amy |
| Health insurance and services provider Humana has teamed up with the University of Chicago Medicine in a value-based agreement to offer coordinated, patient-centered care to Humana’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members. Humana is one of the nation’s largest MA plans in the nation, with more than two million individual MA members and more than 3.5 million MA member in total. |
| Why Humana revamped CEO Bruce Broussard’s contract |
| 8/24/2018 Louisville Business First |
| Larson, Chris |
| Humana CEO Bruce Broussard will no longer have a written employment contract at the end of the year. |
| St. Louis company among fastest-growing on Fortune’s list |
| 8/27/2018 St. Louis Business Journal |
| Rizvic, Veneta |
| Centene, the Clayton-based managed care provider, has landed at No. 49 on Fortune’s latest list of the 100 fastest-growing companies. The company, which had revenue of $49.9 billion for the four quarters ended on or before April 30, appeared at No. 27 in 2017, according to Fortune. Centene is led by Chairman and CEO Michael Neidorff. |
| General surgeon shortage growing in U.S. |
| 8/24/2018 Reuters |
| Rapaport, Lisa |
| The shortage of general surgeons in the U.S. is projected to get worse as the number of these doctors entering the workforce each year fails to keep pace with population growth, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers predict shortages based on their estimates of population growth by 2050 and the number of medical schools and hospital-sponsored general surgery trainee positions in the U.S. |
| Health insurers look for ways to cut costs with back surgery |
| 8/26/2018 Crain’s Detroit Business |
| Greene, Jay |
| Back surgery is one of the most overused types of surgery as well as the most common ailment that sends patients to doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists. More than $90 billion a year is spent on low-back pain alone. On any given day, 31 million Americans experience low-back pain, and it is the leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease study. Back pain also is one of the most common reasons for missed work. |
| Why Medicaid Expansion Is Good For Your Heart |
| 8/26/2018 Forbes Online |
| Japsen, Bruce |
| In a boost for cardiovascular care in the U.S., new research shows those suffering heart attacks and strokes were less likely to be uninsured for their hospital stays after states expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Heart attacks are a leading cause of death in the U.S. and this new research and a companion commentary in JAMA Network Open indicate those who suffered a "major cardiovascular event” had health coverage for hospitalizations thanks to the ACA. |
| Opioid Lawsuits Look More Like A Tobacco Settlement Every Day |
| 8/25/2018 Forbes Online |
| Japsen, Bruce |
| Drug makers and others companies that have been involved in the production, sale and distribution of opioids may have reason to fear “a tobacco-style master settlement agreement,” a new report from Fitch Ratings says. |
| Meeting the Health Needs of Foster Kids |
| 8/24/2018 U.S. News & World Report |
| While foster parenting has innumerable challenges, health care coverage for the children isn’t one of them. Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, picks up the tab for nearly all children in foster care and often continues to cover them if they are adopted, regardless of their parents’ income. And as a result of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, foster children who have Medicaid at 18 can retain the coverage until they turn 26. |
| Politics News |
| With New Bill, Senate Republicans Eye Damage Control Over Obamacare Lawsuit |
| 8/24/2018 Bloomberg News |
| Kapur, Sahil |
| Ten Senate Republicans have introduced legislation that would reinstate Obamacare rules that prohibit insurers from turning away people with pre-existing conditions if a new lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the health-care law succeeds. |
| Red-state voters look to expand Medicaid this fall, despite Trump’s enduring hostility to Obamacare |
| 8/24/2018 Los Angeles Times |
| Levey, Noam |
| Even as President Trump launches new attacks on the Affordable Care Act, voters in four deep red states are poised this fall to expand access to government Medicaid coverage through the 2010 law, often called Obamacare. Nebraska on Friday became the fourth state to qualify a Medicaid expansion initiative for the November ballot, giving voters there the chance to do an end-run around the state’s Republican political leaders who have fought the healthcare law for years. |
| Medicare-for-All support crosses political party lines, poll finds |
| 8/24/2018 Becker’s Hospital Review |
| Paavola, Alia |
| Medicare-for-All, a movement among Democrats aiming to disrupt the insurance market and provide Americans with universal healthcare, is gaining popularity among both political parties, a new Reuters Poll found. The findings suggest that 85 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans support Medicare-for-All, also known as a single-payer healthcare system. |
| Nebraska official certifies Medicaid expansion ballot item |
| 8/24/2018 Associated Press |
| Beck, Margery |
| A proposal to expand Medicaid in Nebraska moved closer Friday to getting on the November ballot after the state’s top elections official determined there are enough valid signatures to send the question to voters. Secretary of State John Gale said 104,477 valid signatures were certified by his office. The effort needed at least 84,269 to make it onto the ballot. |
| McCain remembered for bipartisanship, decisive Obamacare vote |
| 8/26/2018 POLITICO Pro |
| Warmbrodt, Zachary |
| Sen. John McCain was memorialized by Republicans and Democrats on Sunday for his willingness to reach across the aisle and break with his own party — even if it doomed the GOP’s plans to undo Obamacare. Sen. Jeff Flake said he admired his fellow Arizona Republican for casting the deciding vote against a bill last year that would have repealed Democrats’ signature health care law. |
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