Chris Anderson

While the gubernatorial primary in the state of Washington won’t be held for nearly three months, most political observers say it is virtually assured who the candidates will be.

With so much political rhetoric aimed at the Affordable Care Act these days and many openly hoping the Supreme Court will throw the baby out with the individual mandate bathwater, the law’s strong points very often get drowned out by the static and noise.

While most states' efforts to overhaul Medicaid have focused on bolstering managed care as a way to hold a lid on costs, in Oregon a radical redesign of its Medicaid program aims to foster cooperation between providers and create a broader whole-person care model for the roughly 500,000 who receive care under the state's low-income insurance plan.

With the Supreme Court expected to make a ruling within the next two weeks on key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, UnitedHealthcare, Humana and Aetna have agreed to continue offering certain provisions of the law, regardless of its legal fate.

While payers across the country have launched a host of different forms of payment initiatives like ACOs and patient-centered medical homes, designed around some form of risk sharing, Washington-based Premera Blue Cross has found success via its unique payment model it calls Global Outcomes Contracting.

UnitedHealthcare announced this week the launch of myHealthcare Cost Estimator, an online tool that allows its members to search for quality healthcare providers while also providing them with a cost estimate for more than 100 different procedures.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday 45 commercial, state and federal insurers who will participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative, an effort to improve public health via an emphasis on primary care.

A new study found that most low-income people dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid continue to receive benefits separately via fee-for-service arrangement and that gaps in data may hinder deliberations on how to effectively manage care for this population.

Just two months after firing its CEO Ken Melani for an alleged affair with a Highmark employee and an arrest for assault, the company today announced it has hired long-time healthcare and insurance industry veteran William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, as the company's new president and CEO.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced a partnership with providers, care givers and patients aimed at improving the care and use of antipsychotic medications for patients in nursing homes.