Revenue Cycle and Payer News 9-6-2017

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Posted By: Annmarie Budniak September 6, 2017

In the News…

Hurricane Harvey: Health care industry takes action to help
Benefits Pro (@Benefits_Pro) reports that health insurers are responding to members impacted by Hurricane Harvey with solutions to expedite access to care and prescriptions, as well as donations to help rescue and recovery efforts. Cigna, Humana, Anthem, Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield are all making an effort to “offer support and ensure those impacted have swift access to the healthcare, resources and medical services they need.”

eHealth Works With Square to Help Small Businesses Find Health Insurance Solutions
eHealth, Inc. (@ehealth), which operates eHealth.com, a private online health insurance exchange, announced that it is now providing Square’s (@Square) small business customers with access to a broad range of health insurance solutions as well as eHealth’s innovative plan comparison tools and robust customer support.

UnitedHealth names Wichmann CEO, Hemsley executive chairman
UnitedHealth Group Inc recently announced that president David Wichmann will become the company’s chief executive, succeeding Stephen Hemsley, who is moving to the newly created role of executive chairman after more than a decade at the helm of the largest U.S. health insurer. Wichmann, 54, was widely viewed inside and outside of the company as Hemsley’s likely successor, although the timing of the change was sooner than some had expected.

Aetna sued after inadvertently revealing HIV information
According to the Washington Examiner, major insurer Aetna (@Aetna) is facing a class-action lawsuit after it inadvertently revealed that about 12,000 of its customers have HIV. Aetna last week apologized to “those affected by a mailing issue that inadvertently exposed the personal health information of some Aetna members.

Feds estimate 20.5 million more people with insurance since Obamacare became law
A new federal report estimates that 20.5 million people have gained health insurance since 2010, the year Obamacare was signed into law, although the report didn’t attribute that entire increase to health plans bought under Obamacare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on Tuesday for the uninsured rate for the first three months of 2017.

Meet The Future Of Small-Business Health Insurance: Self Funding
Forbes is reporting that according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s most recent survey of employers, the share of insured workers in small firms (those with less than 200 employees) in self-funded plans stayed low, and has even fallen. In 2016, it stood at 13 percent. But a new study published by the Urban Institute suggests that this could soon change. The report, which examined small-business insurance markets in six states, found that insurers and brokers are quickly warming to self-funded insurance arrangements — sometimes called level-funded plans — for small companies.

Dan Haar: Soaring Health Insurance Profits Add Intrigue To Obamacare Debate
The companies — Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Humana and Anthem — have earned record or near-record profits in 2017 and their stock values continue to soar. Aetna and Cigna are each up five-fold from March 2010, the month the Affordable Care Act took effect. UnitedHealth is up more than six-fold. In the spring quarter, Aetna earned $1.2 billion in operating profit after taxes, more than double its quarterly average since Obamacare started. Cigna shares are up 31 percent in 2017.

Speak now on proposed marriage of NC’s big health care systems. It needs scrutiny.
UNC Health Care, the Triangle’s largest health care provider, and Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare want to enter into a partnership to increase their clout when they negotiate with insurance companies.

Insurance-Tech Startup Dollars Leap
Venture capital for insurance technology is rolling in. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that eleven U.S. startups in the sector raised $424.5 million in the second quarter, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.

Snapshot on Stocks

In this roller coaster ride of just what will happen when it comes to health care these days, how are the health insurance stocks doing? We are not picking, just reporting.

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