Collaboration News:
Morehouse School of Medicine and UnitedHealth Group Collaborate to Help Expand COVID-19 Research and Health Equity for Individuals with Sickle Cell
Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and UnitedHealth Group (@UnitedHealthGrp) have joined forces to determine if people with sickle cell trait are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and if the trait results in more severe cases of the disease.
Clover Health Joins FDA’s Early Payor Feedback Program to Encourage Innovation Among Medical Device Makers
Clover Health (@clover_health), a technology company improving health outcomes for America’s seniors, announced it joined a group of the largest insurers in the United States as a part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Early Payor Feedback Program. The goal of the program is to facilitate communication between device manufacturers and payors to shorten the time between FDA approval and payors’ coverage decisions
Vive Benefits and SimplePay Health Have Partnered to Offer an Innovative, Easy-to-Use High Deductible Health Plan Design to Address Rising Healthcare Costs
Vive Benefits and SimplePay, two companies dedicated to making health benefits simple, affordable and transparent, have collaborated to develop an HDHP plan design that supplies transparency for its members and prospects. CEO and Founder of Vive Benefits, Jason Pyle, M.D., believes the collaboration with SimplePay is perfectly aligned with their mission to universalize financial security to all by empowering patients to pay medical bills.
Aetna and Landmark Health working together to bring in-home health services to Medicare Advantage members in New York
Aetna®, a CVS Health® company (@cvshealth), and Landmark Health and its affiliated medical groups (Landmark) announced a new relationship to bring physician-led services into the homes of Aetna Medicare Advantage members living in New York with chronic health conditions. Service areas will be focused in the New York City boroughs and Long Island and further extend to Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo.
Financial News:
Humana invests $100 million in telehealth start-up Heal
According to CNBC, Health insurance provider Humana (@Humana) is partnering with telehealth start-up Heal, which includes a $100 million investment that will be used to help the five-year-old company expand into new markets, such as Chicago, Charlotte and Houston, the companies announced Wednesday.
Molina Healthcare Announces the Closing of its Acquisition of Passport’s Medicaid Plan Assets
Molina Healthcare, Inc. (@molinahealth) (“Molina”) announced the closing of its acquisition of certain assets related to the Medicaid line of business of Passport Health Plan, Inc. (“Passport”). In addition, Passport’s Medicaid contract with the Commonwealth of Kentucky has been novated to Molina. Effective September 1, 2020, Molina Healthcare of Kentucky, Inc. will provide Medicaid managed care benefits to Medicaid members that were previously being served by Passport. As of August 1, 2020, Passport served approximately 315,000 Medicaid members in Kentucky.
Product News:
Connecting the dots in health care: Combining CVS Health services with Aetna’s cost-saving performance network
The Aetna Connected Plan with CVS Health (@cvshealth), a first-of-its-kind plan offering in the Kansas City health care insurance market, is demonstrating how the company’s combined capabilities can help members access care when and where they need it — and at a more affordable price than a traditional plan.
Staywell Launches “HAPPY” for Members Experiencing Loneliness and Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Concerns surrounding social isolation and loneliness are rising during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have acknowledged that loneliness and social isolation have become the newest healthcare epidemic. Both factors are associated with a 26% increase in the likelihood of early death, as well an uptick in diagnoses of heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, and increased hospitalizations. In response, Staywell Health Plan (@wellcare_health), which serves more than 1 million Medicaid members across Florida, is providing its members with access to a new 24/7 support hotline to address loneliness and social isolation in partnership with HAPPY the APP, Inc., a support service providing emotional assistance to those in need
To Read:
Shifting Consumer Health Care Behavior
The ongoing public health crisis is causing an unprecedented shift in the way Americans view and access health care. A nation of anxious but adaptable consumers carries major implications for a health sector that represents 18 percent of GDP. To gauge how consumers are responding, the Alliance of Community Health Plans and AMCP commissioned a national survey exploring consumers’ comfort level with the health care system.
FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Tracker
The Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health (@fairhealth) data to track how telehealth is evolving on a monthly basis. Each infographic includes a 2019 vs. 2020 comparison for that month of telehealth’s Volume of claim lines, Urban vs. rural usage and more.
U.S. Government Starts Making $12 Billion in ACA Risk Corridors Payments
The U.S. federal government is starting to send health insurers $12 billion in payments for Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk corridors program subsidies for coverage provided in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had failed to make the ACA risk corridors program payments for years, saying that Congress had refused to provide funding for the program.