Health insurers have reduced prior authorizations by 11% and are continuing reforms to streamline and speed up approvals, according to an announcement from AHIP and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
More than 50 major insurers have pledged to streamline prior authorization starting in 2026, but providers remain cautiously optimistic and skeptical that the changes will truly reduce burden or delays in care.
Small practices play a critical role in healthcare delivery, but they cannot continue to absorb ever-increasing administrative demands without consequences.
Establishing site-neutral payments for outpatient services is a hot issue in Capitol Hill right now. Advocates say that such policy would lower healthcare costs, saving both patients and taxpayers money. Opponents say that it would put hospitals’ financial security at risk and jeopardize access to care.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association announced it is partnering with Cyversity, a nonprofit working to create a diverse and inclusive workforce in the cybersecurity field. The two organizations are forming a training and mentorship program available to Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies and Cyversity members.
The final rule calls for stricter audits on Medicare Advantage plans. AHIP president and CEO Matt Eyles referred to the rule as "unlawful and fatally flawed."
Members of America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association are launching an initiative to help seniors in underserved communities get access to the Covid-19 vaccine. They aim to get 2 million Americans, older than 65, vaccinated.
How to turn analytics into actual policy outcomes.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and several of its licensed insurance companies created a new subsidiary of nonprofit Civica Rx. The goal is to reduce the cost of generics by developing them.
Serota joined the Association in 1996 and was promoted to the position of president and CEO in 2000
The opioid epidemic has become one of the largest healthcare priorities of the Trump Administration and one of the limited areas in the country's fractured political system where bipartisan support can be found.
At a time when telehealth seems to be becoming the norm for employee benefit packages, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan has chosen Teladoc to provide services for the 2018 benefit year.
Enterprise EHR boosts scalability, interoperability, and governance for large healthcare systems.
The move follows Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's announcement last year that all Blue Cross and Blue Shield customers would get access to identity protection tools.
Last year, health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield Association spun off its data intelligence entity, known as Blue Health Intelligence. This year, the separate company is looking to raise $13.1 million. Blue Health Intelligence — referred to as Health Intelligence Company LLC in regulatory filings — aggregates de-identified, claims-based data from more than 110 million […]
Medica, one of the largest healthcare insurers operating in Minnesota, is showing some attitude with a new marketing campaign in the Twin Cities. Billboards, bus stop and skyway signs show a lesbian couple holding hands, an ear with a huge stud earring, a baby holding a toy block, and a woman with a little girl lying on a blanket. The message is that Medica has "plans that fit your life."
Are spinal fusion procedures on the way out? Health plans and a growing number of doctors think too many patients are getting lumbar fusions without first exhausting less expensive non-surgical options such as exercise, physical therapy and epidural steroid injections.
Among the life science current events from last week: a Blue Cross Blue Shield spinoff, predictions on the changes in 510(k) regulations, Cleveland Clinic increases its interest in personalized medicine, and Cleveland's medical mart unveils its early tenants.