Collaboration News:
Friday Health Plans Partners With HealthSparq to Power New Digital Experience for Members
Friday Health Plans has selected HealthSparq’s (@HealthSparq) guidance and transparency platform to provide online, personalized guidance to members looking to find the right in-network care. HealthSparq’s technology will power the health plan’s ‘Find a Doctor’ tool, provide cost estimates to achieve CMS Transparency in Coverage compliance, make care selection simpler with better guidance for members, and deliver more convenience with online appointment scheduling.
GetSetUp Announces New Member Engagement Tool for Medicare Advantage Health Plans
GetSetUp, online destination for older adults with over 2 million monthly members, announced the launch of GetSetUp Health, a member engagement tool designed to support Medicare Advantage health plans. By onboarding new members more effectively and helping members better understand health plan benefits, GetSetUp Health can improve health literacy and equip members with the tools and skills they need to successfully age-in-place.
UnitedHealthcare to Provide Millions of Members with Year-Long Access to the Peloton App
UnitedHealthcare (@uhc), part of UnitedHealth Group, and Peloton (@onepeloton) are working together to provide millions of Americans with access — at no additional cost — to classes that can help improve their overall fitness and well-being, the first such relationship between Peloton and a health plan.
Andor Health Partners with athenahealth’s Marketplace Program to Configure and Orchestrate Virtual Health Experiences
Andor Health, the company that harnesses machine and human intelligence to configure and orchestrate the way care teams connect and collaborate, announced a partnership with athenahealth Inc. (@athenahealth) through the company’s Marketplace program. As part of the athenahealth® Marketplace, ThinkAndor® is now available to athenahealth’s growing network of healthcare providers to configure discrete workflows to enable a wide range of virtual health experiences.
RxBenefits Poised to Join Forces with Confidio, Creating Industry’s Leading Pharmacy Benefit Optimizer
RxBenefits (@rxbenefits), a technology-enabled pharmacy benefits optimizer (PBO), announced an agreement to acquire pharmacy benefits consulting firm, Confidio, pending regulatory approval. The pending transaction will bring together two premier, complementary providers of pharmacy benefits services, significantly expanding the combined company’s ability to lower pharmacy benefits costs for self-funded employers and plan sponsors, regardless of group size.
Financial News:
Turquoise Health raises $5M led by a16z to make price transparency ubiquitous
Turquoise Health (@TurquoiseHC), a healthcare price transparency and provider-payer contract negotiation platform that generates cost certainty for patients, announces the closing of its $5 Million seed funding round. The round is led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with Bessemer Venture Partners, Box Group, individual investors Henry Ward, Megan Callahan, Jonathan Bush, and NBA Champion Klay Thompson.
UnitedHealthcare Introduces the Use of Predictive Analytics to Help Address Social Determinants of Health
UnitedHealthcare has introduced the use of predictive analytics to help improve well-being, lower costs and drive engagement in clinical-intervention programs by addressing social determinants of health for people in some employer-sponsored benefit plans.[1]
Anthem Reports Second Quarter 2021 Results, Raises Full Year Outlook
Anthem, Inc. (@AnthemInc) reported second quarter 2021 results reflecting strong financial performance.
Cigna Declares Quarterly Dividend
The Board of Directors of Cigna Corporation (@cigna) declared a cash dividend of $1.00 per share of Cigna common stock, payable on September 23, 2021 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 8, 2021.
Humana Prices $3.0 Billion Debt Offering
Humana Inc. (@Humana) announced that it has priced a public offering of $3.0 billion in senior notes. These senior notes are comprised of $1,500 million of the company’s 0.650 percent senior notes, due 2023 (the “2023 notes”), at 99.933 percent of the principal amount, $750 million of the company’s 1.350 percent senior notes, due 2027 (the “2027 notes”), at 99.905 percent of the principal amount and $750 million of the company’s 2.150 percent senior notes, due 2032 (the “2032 notes”), at 99.804 percent of the principal amount (collectively, the “Senior Notes Offerings”). The Senior Notes Offerings are expected to close on August 3, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Company News:
Oscar Health, Inc. ‘MyIdentity’ Functionality Supports Transgender and Non-Binary Members
Oscar Health, Inc. (@OscarHealth), the first health insurance company built on a full stack technology platform and a relentless focus on serving its members, announced the launch of its new ‘MyIdentity’ functionality as a part of its ongoing efforts to ensure that members get the access to care they need in an equitable way. This new functionality, which is available nationwide, allows all members – including those who identify as transgender or non-binary – to freely input their name, pronouns, and gender identity in the Oscar app.
Reports:
New CVS Health Study finds people are taking greater control of their health as a result of the pandemic
The 2021 Health Care Insights Study by CVS Health® (@cvshealth), recently released, reveals the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic but also highlights the resilience of patients, providers and the health care system, and growing interest in novel ways to engage with health care to achieve a more individualized experience.
Team-based Healthcare Models Lead to More Collaboration, Higher Morale, and an Increased Focus on Patient Care, athenahealth Physician Sentiment Index Finds
Physicians working in team-based models are more likely to say their organizations drive collaboration with other physicians, support patient social determinant needs, and give them more time to focus on patient care by minimizing administrative tasks, according to athenahealth, Inc.’s Physician Sentiment Index 2021 report.
New CVS Health Study finds people are taking greater control of their health as a result of the pandemic
The 2021 Health Care Insights Study by CVS Health®, recently released, reveals the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic but also highlights the resilience of patients, providers and the health care system, and growing interest in novel ways to engage with health care to achieve a more individualized experience.
To Read:
Biden’s Special Obamacare Sign-Up A Pandemic Boost To Health Insurers by Forbes – Health insurance companies continue to have one of their best years selling individual plans under the Affordable Care Act thanks to a special open enrollment period put in place by the Biden administration.
5 Reasons Why the Individual Health Insurance Market is on Fire (In a Good Way) by Entrepreneur – I think most would agree that we are in a massive industrial shift worldwide right now. Here at home in the United States, the service industry is exploding. This is mostly related to a convenience mindset, a shift in our thinking as a society and the baby boomer generation entering the decumulation phase of life.
Upcoming Events:
AHIP National Conference on Medicare, Medicaid & Dual Eligilbles Online (@ahipcoverage)
What: National Conference on Medicare, Medicaid & Dual Eligilbles Online
When: September 21 – 24, 2021
Where: Virtual
National Conference on Medicare, Medicaid & Dual Eligilbles Online – As health care continues to dominate the national conversation, it’s more essential than ever to participate in the National Conference on Medicare, Medicaid and Dual Eligibles. We’ll take a closer look at the policy, regulatory, and operational issues affecting Medicare Advantage and Part D, Medicaid managed care, and programs to better serve those who are dually eligible.