Tag:
Latest Headlines
As insurers continually point to providers' bargaining power as a primary driver of growing healthcare costs, many may be working to boost their own market strength by buying up smaller companies. Health analysts believe that Medicaid insurers, including Centene, Health Net, Molina and WellCare, are particularly poised for a merger or acquisition from larger insurers like Aetna, Cigna, Humana or UnitedHealthcare, reported Healthcare Payer News.
I'm a fan of the mom-and-pop store. Even if it means paying a little more for the same product available at a big-box retailer, I would prefer shopping at a small, local store. That's because I tend to receive better customer service at the smaller shops where they personally value my business. And I would allege the same to be true in the healthcare industry.
Although insurers and industry organizations often assert that provider consolidation leads to higher prices, some experts believe the impact is relatively neutral, reported Insurance News Net.
As providers continue to team up, insurers claim the growing rate of provider consolidation leads to high healthcare costs. Many states want to lessen the impact of provider consolidation by implementing laws and regulations that encourage price disclosure and ensure limits on healthcare prices, according to a new paper from the National Academy of Social Insurance and Catalyst for Payment Reform.
As doctors and hospitals continue to consolidate, insurers are seeing prices soar. To counteract the effects of provider consolidation, a new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund offers several steps insurers can take to reduce rising costs.
Highmark can forge ahead with its planned purchase of West Penn Allegheny Health System--which it intends to use as the foundation of a new integrated health network to compete against rival UPMC--thanks to approval from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana and Health Care Services Corporation reached a new agreement to obtain a state recommendation for their proposed merger.
A new study from America's Health Insurance Plans finds that hospital prices have been growing amid increased provider consolidation.
Health Care Service Corporation, which already agreed to buy Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, now has upped its purchase price for the insurer by nearly $23 million.
AmeriHealth Mercy wants to buy Medicaid provider Chartered Health Plan, paying $5 million for certain assets of the embattled Washington, D.C.-based health insurer.
Press Releases
- Most Wired Hospitals Focus on Security and Patient Engagement
- USW Applauds Supreme Court Decision to Uphold Affordable Care Act Subsidies
- Cigna Says Anthem Proposal Inadequate and Not in Best Interests of Cigna Shareholders
- Ariosa receives CE mark for its FORTE Software to support Harmony™ Prenatal Test
- Steven J. Stack, M.D., Inaugurated as 170th President of AMA
- More Press Releases
Sponsored Links