Revenue Cycle and Payer News – July 13, 2022

Collaboration News:

Independence Blue Cross is collaborating with Philadelphia-based Cocolife.black and Cayaba Care to address maternal health equity challenges
Independence Blue Cross (@ibx) is addressing racial disparities in maternal health by collaborating with Cocolife.black and Cayaba Care – two Philadelphia-based, minority-led maternal health companies.

Mother Goose Health Partners with athenahealth’s Marketplace Program to Bring Value-Based Care to Obstetrics
Mother Goose Health, the first fully integrated technology platform to offer value based obstetrics care utilizing proven clinical models, announced a partnership with athenahealth, Inc. (@athenahealth) through the company’s Marketplace program.

HPI Acquires Employers Health Network (EHN) of Irving, Texas
Solidifying a powerful partnership that began in 2015, Health Plans, Inc. (@HealthPlansInc) announced that on July 1, 2022, it acquired Employers Health Network (EHN), a company that develops and manages high-performing networks for employers seeking an alternative to the high cost of traditional managed care networks.

Company News:

Oscar Builds on Innovative Member Engagement Tool to Further Drive Positive Outcomes for Members and Clients
Oscar Health, Inc. (@OscarHealth), the first health insurance company built on a full stack technology platform, announced the launch of its Next Best Actions engine, a messaging framework that simplifies member communications. Built within +Oscar’s existing Campaign Builder technology, the Next Best Actions engine identifies unique opportunities at the individual level and follows a targeted messaging hierarchy to drive behavior change.

Aetna expands youth mental health programs
Aetna (@cvshealth), a CVS Health company, recently expanded its ongoing programs with Psych Hub, the world’s most comprehensive platform for mental health education. This effort is also part of Aetna’s comprehensive strategy to reduce member suicide attempts by 20 percent by the year 2025.

Independence Blue Cross awards 2022 Clinical Care Innovation Grants to Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Penn Medicine, and Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic
Independence Blue Cross announced that it has awarded six Clinical Care Innovation Grants (CCI Grants) to local health systems to support projects aimed at improving the quality and delivery of health care. The health systems receiving grants include Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Penn Medicine, and Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic.

UnitedHealth Group 2021 Sustainability Report Includes New Health Equity and Environmental Health Commitments
UnitedHealth Group (@UnitedHealthGrp) released its 2021 Sustainability Report detailing the company’s ongoing commitment to helping meet the needs of those it serves, including customers, employees, shareholders and society broadly.

Humana Launches CenterWell Pharmacy and CenterWell Specialty Pharmacy
Humana Inc. (@Humana), a health and well-being company, has announced that Humana Pharmacy and Humana Specialty Pharmacy are now CenterWell Pharmacy and CenterWell Specialty Pharmacy after making a seamless transition to the CenterWell healthcare services brand.

Cigna Announces $3.5 Billion Accelerated Stock Repurchase Agreements
Global health services company Cigna Corporation (@cigna) will repurchase $3.5 billion of common stock through accelerated stock repurchase agreements (the “ASR Agreements”) with Mizuho Markets Americas LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (the “Counterparties”). The ASRs are part of Cigna’s existing share repurchase program, which had remaining authority of approximately $8.8 billion as of June 14, 2022.

Mental Health: How We Help the Growing Number of Struggling Youth

Product News:

Oscar Builds on Innovative Member Engagement Tool to Further Drive Positive Outcomes for Members and Clients
Oscar Health, Inc. (@OscarHealth), a health insurance company built on a full stack technology platform, announced the launch of its Next Best Actions engine, a messaging framework that simplifies member communications. Built within +Oscar’s existing Campaign Builder technology, the Next Best Actions engine identifies unique opportunities at the individual level and follows a targeted messaging hierarchy to drive behavior change.

Policy News:

CMS Proposes Physician Payment Rule to Expand Access to High-Quality Care

HCNR Episodes on Value-Based Care:

Healthcare Rap: Pay Attention to Payviders

Jeff Bean from Geisinger is in the house to help Jared Johnson and Zain Ismail look at healthcare from the payvider’s point of view. He dives deep into the value prop and business strategy of payviders and where they are headed as the world starts to look a little further down the horizon. How do you incentivize providers to keep people out of the hospital, and then translate that message so consumers understand their options? All that, plus the Flava of the Week about the affordability crisis. Can the Disruptors do more than transform the consumer experience; can they also make a dent in the cost?

To Read:

How much health insurers pay for almost everything is about to go public from Health News from NPR – Consumers, employers and just about everyone else interested in health care prices will soon get an unprecedented look at what insurers pay for care, perhaps helping answer a question that has long dogged those who buy insurance: Are we getting the best deal we can?

4 Ways to Choose Between Obamacare and Job-Based Health Insurance by Very Well Health (@Verywell) – Not sure which you should choose, Obamacare (referring to individual/family health coverage regulated by the Affordable Care Act) or the health insurance offered through your job? Need to figure out which gives you more bang for your buck, Obamacare versus job-based health insurance?

Upcoming Events:

AHIP’s Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum (@ahipcoverage)
What: Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum
When: September 12 – 14, 2022
Where: Nashville, TN
Twitter: #AHIPDigital
Register here.

AHIP’s Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum – Be part of this powerful event that convenes progressive leaders to explore the evolution of consumer expectations, digital health best practices, and the shifting landscape of care delivery. You’ll connect and share insights with C-Suite colleagues from health insurance providers, health systems and providers, integrated delivery networks, retail care, new entrants, government officials, and emerging digital health technology companies