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Latest News

HealthSpring buys Bravo Health for $545 million

August 30, 2010 — 11:54am ET | By Martin Sipkoff
A major Medicare Advantage player is expanding its operations base by purchasing another major managed care Medicare program. HealthSpring (NYSE: HS), a Nashville-based company, will acquire Bravo... Read more >>

SPOTLIGHT: NY Consumers won 47 percent of appeals in 2009

August 30, 2010 — 11:53am ET | By Sandra Yin
Consumers seeking to reverse health plans' denials of coverage won 33,921 internal appeals against commercial insurers in 2009 out of 71,787 cases closed, according to the Consumer Guide to Health... Read more >>

Consumer-driven health plan enrollment grows slower than in past

August 30, 2010 — 9:38am ET | By Dina Overland
Consumer-driven health plans continue to grow--although enrollment is slower than in previous years. CDHPs grew at a rate of 18.1 percent this past year (about half that of 2009) but no longer cover... Read more >>

Repealing some PPACA provisions would cost $455 billion

August 30, 2010 — 9:07am ET | By Dina Overland
Repealing major components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would cost $455 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office says. Some PPACA provisions generated savings for... Read more >>

Anthem Blue Cross gets OK for lower rate hikes

August 26, 2010 — 10:37am ET | By Sandra Yin
WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross got the go-ahead from California insurance regulators to raise rates an average of 14 percent--and as high as 20 percent for individual health policies--starting Oct. 1,... Read more >>

Health Insurers, HMOs fined for prompt pay violations in New York

August 25, 2010 — 10:33am ET | By Alicia Caramenico
Twenty health insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have been fined a total of $716,800 by the New York State Insurance Department for not repaying healthcare providers in a timely... Read more >>

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Also Noted

> Walgreens' Take Care Clinics will allow direct medical billing for vaccinations through several insurance providers, including UnitedHealthcare and Cigna, Reuters reports. Article

>  In its latest deal, Centene announced its Florida subsidiary, Sunshine State Health Plan, would acquire Citrus Health Care's Medicaid and long-term care diversion assets, a business that provides assisted living care under Medicaid and is a new product line for Centene, St. Louis Business Journal reports. The deal is expected to generate $120 million to $130 million in revenue a year. Article

> Humana Inc. last week appointed long-standing CEO Michael B. McCallister as chairman, succeeding David A. Jones Jr. who resigned from the post but will stay on the board, Associated Press reports. Article

> Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts named Executive Vice President Andrew Dreyfus as the company's new president and chief executive officer, the Boston Herald reports. Dreyfus will succeed Bill Van Faasen who served as an unpaid interim president and CEO since March 16. Article
 
> Health insurer Molina Healthcare Inc. said Wednesday that Lynn Allen has been promoted to president of its health plan subsidiary, Molina Healthcare of New Mexico, reports Bloomberg Businessweek. Article

And finally … Cornbread will never taste the same. Article