By: Olivia Whitehouse
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – Mid-Atlantic Women’s Care and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield are in negotiation over reimbursement rates but are struggling to find a mutual agreement.
If there is no resolution, their agreement will be terminated at the end of the month. Harrisonburg OBGYN is part of Mid-Atlantic Women’s Care and could be impacted if negotiations are not settled.
By: Bob Herman
Two dominant Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in California intentionally underreported premiums of certain health plans so they could avoid paying Affordable Care Act taxes, according to new federal whistleblower complaints.
These claims renew concerns about whether health insurance companies have skirted the tax code and to what extent tax fraud could exist in the industry.
By: Bob Herman
A program that undergirds the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces continues to bolster the balance sheets of large Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, according to a STAT analysis of new federal data.
Conversely, that same program — called “risk adjustment” — has created substantial financial burdens for startup insurers including Bright Health Group, which has now exited all health insurance markets, and Friday Health Plans, which has shut down.
By: Jacklyn Wille- Bloomberg
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina was hit with a proposed class action by two prostate cancer patients who say the company wrongly refuses to cover a well-established cancer treatment by incorrectly classifying it as experimental.
By: Bob Herman
STAT
A $203 million tax refund for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Nearly $1.5 billion in profit for Health Care Service Corp., the parent of five Blues plans. A quadrupling of profit at BCBS of Alabama.
Publicly traded health insurers were not the only ones in the industry that continued to amass large windfalls in 2022. Many nonprofit and private Blue Cross Blue Shield companies ended last year with sizable gains that added to their mountainous cash reserves, according to a STAT analysis of financial filings.
By: Chris Yard
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed a light on many of the racial inequities that still plague our society, with one key takeaway being the pronounced impact that the virus has had on Black communities. But COVID-19 is not an anomaly when it comes to racial health disparities, it is unfortunately yet another example of Black Americans, on average, suffering worse health outcomes than their white counterparts due to various factors including socioeconomic status and broader healthcare access, among others.
One would hope that the prominent actors in our healthcare system would use the moment we find ourselves in to implement solutions that help level the playing field for Black Americans. Instead, there is clear evidence the dangerous trend of cutting key healthcare providers from insurance networks is becoming an issue statewide for Black Tennesseans.
By: Mike Scarcella
Reuters
June 1 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) sued Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in U.S. court on Wednesday, accusing it of a price-fixing conspiracy that caused the automaker to pay inflated costs for health insurance products for its employees.
The lawsuit Ford filed in Detroit federal court accused the insurer and its regional Michigan branch of unlawfully dividing up parts of the country in a scheme to reduce competition with each other in order to drive “astronomical profits.”
By: Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi
The News & Observer
Gov. Roy Cooper signed off Saturday on a bill allowing the state’s largest health insurer to move assets into a deregulated holding company, despite transparency and accountability concerns from some top state officials.
By: Terese Ledy
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – A group of boycotters walked to the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) building in Marquette to deliver a letter and make themselves heard Tuesday.
According to rally participants, BCBS customers all over Michigan were sharing in the march against the healthcare provider. They want open floor policy meetings that are open to the public. They want healthcare transparency, along with healthcare for all.
Audrey Gerard, a Michigan United Healthcare for All organizer, said they chose Tuesday to rally because Wednesday is the day that Blue Cross Blue Shield celebrates all the money they’ve made for the prior fiscal year.
