07/30/2019
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07/30/2019
Senate Delays Vote on Broker Commissions & Surprise Billing
The Senate will wait until after the August recess to vote on the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which was introduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. The bill includes t...
07/24/2019
Blue Shield of California Adds MemorialCare Medical Foundation to Trio Providers List in Los Angeles County
MemorialCare Medical Foundation has been added to Blue Shield of California’s growing list of Trio providers in Los Angeles County (Covered California Rating Region 15). This new addition impacts a...
07/23/2019
Five Things You Should Know About Anthem Blue Cross Specialty
Anthem Blue Cross makes it easy to manage health and specialty plans with one enrollment, one bill, and one contact ID card. Here are five things to know about Anthem specialty benefits: 1. A dent...
07/19/2019
Oscar Announces Q4 Rate Action
Oscar Health has announced their approved rates, showing a slight increase across their region in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. EPO plans will increase by 1.2% and EPO HSA plans will increase by 1....
07/17/2019
House Passes Full Repeal of ACA's Cadillac Tax
The House of Representatives voted 419-6 to pass H.R. 748, a bill to fully repeal the ACA's Cadillac Excise Tax. It will next be considered by the Senate, where a companion bill, S. 684, has 42 bipart...
07/16/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Renews Agreement with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Anthem Blue Cross renewed their Commercial Hospital and Medical Group PPO Agreements with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The fully executed multi-year hospital agreement is effective August 15, 2019...
07/16/2019
Blue Shield of California Introduces Q4 Rate Action
Blue Shield of California reports a state-wide average rate action for fourth-quarter 2019 of 1.8% for PPO and HMO plans. Rate actions vary by region and network; regional rate actions for PPO plans r...
07/10/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Offers Q4 Update
With the recent launch of Priority Select, Anthem Blue Cross is offering groups more affordable price points with a continued focus on coordinated care. They continue to reposition their presence in t...
07/10/2019
Blue Shield of California Responds to Earthquakes
Due to the earthquakes and state of emergency declaration in Kern and San Bernardino counties, Blue Shield of California is activating their emergency access to care procedures in those areas. They ar...
07/09/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Negotiates with El Camino Hospital
El Camino Hospital issued a notice to terminate its Contracting Hospital Agreement with Anthem Blue Cross. El Camino has hospital campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos. To date, Anthem Blue Cross an...
07/09/2019
Health Net Releases Q4 Update
Health Net released Q4 rates. However, rates quoted are pending regulatory approval. There are no new plans or termed plans, and there are no changes to their specialty lines of coverage. Below y...
07/08/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Terminates Agreement With San Benito Medical Associates
Anthem Blue Cross will not renew its CaliforniaCare Agreement with San Benito Medical Associates. As a result, San Benito Medical Associates will no longer be part of Anthem’s commercial HMO Network b...
07/08/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Provides Update On Verity, Allied HealthCare, and AllCare Medical Group
Anthem Blue Cross announced that Allied Healthcare Providers and Verity Medical Foundation will terminate on July 1, 2019. Impacted members will be transferred to alternate participating medical group...
07/08/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Renews Agreement With Adventist Health
Anthem Blue Cross reached a multi-year agreement with Adventist Health. The fully executed amendments include Medicare Advantage, professional, and ancillary agreements. The amendments are effective o...
07/08/2019
Anthem Blue Cross Removes Split Tier From Tier 1 Drugs
Effective Oct. 1, 2019, Anthem Blue Cross will change their Rx Tier 1a/1b (split tier) benefits on a majority of January 1, 2019 plans. This means that Tier 1 a/1b will combine to form Tier 1. This w...
07/03/2019
Physicians for Healthy Hospitals and KPC Hospitals System Network Contracts With Blue Shield Of California Have Terminated
After months of negotiations, Blue Shield of California and Physicians for Healthy Hospitals, (PHH)/KPC Hospitals System, have not reached mutual agreement on rates and terms for their hospital contra...
07/03/2019
New Standard for Aetna Premium Payments: An Ongoing ACH Debit
Starting August 1, 2019, Aetna’s ongoing ACH debit will be the standard method for premium payments (paper check is no longer accepted). Regularly scheduled payments will be based on the membership at...
07/03/2019
Sharp Health Plan Decreases HMO Rates for Q4 2019
Sharp Health Plan has released their Q4 rates with a decrease on all HMO plans. The Full Choice network will decrease by 4.5% while the limited HMO networks will decrease 5.9% compared to Q3 2019 rate...
07/02/2019
UnitedHealthcare Q4 2019 Update
UnitedHealthcare has released rates for Q4 2019. There are no changes to plan benefits, packages, or networks. The statewide average increase is 1% for HMOs and 1.5% for PPOs. eServices Update Comi...
07/01/2019
