Changes in Oregon's regulation of small-group health plans are causing major fluctuations in rates for some groups, and creating opportunities for companies willing to respond to the new realities…
Economic turmoil is nothing new in Michigan, where the auto industry's woes continue to get worse, and job losses and layoffs continue to shrink the healthcare market. Against that backdrop, Blue…
Managed Medicaid is the centerpiece of Louisiana's health reform initiative, Louisiana Health First, which has finally taken shape after years of planning. State officials are betting that a coord…
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is reacting to market conditions in a number of ways, through talks with Excellus BlueCross BlueShield of New York about a potential collaboration in the ancill…
Colorado Medicaid officials are asking for legislative approval to expand managed care into Medicaid in a much bigger way by 2010. They propose to phase in the movement to managed care through regions…
Health insurers in the Midwest are coping with the recession by laying off employees, holding the line on pricing and adjusting benefit design to allow employers to take advantage of additional cost-s…
The District of Columbia is targeting CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in an effort to capture a portion of the large nonprofit's reserves for a new program serving the uninsured. The District has h…
Premium increases moderated in the Carolinas in 2008 with health plan costs per employee rising by 6 percent to 10 percent, but the increases are expected to accelerate in the coming months. Brokers a…
Kansas City is the new home of a major pilot initiative for value-based insurance design, with major employers pulling together to gather and evaluate data needed to calculate results of VBID moves.
Ground zero for job losses is the financial sector in New York, and insurers are bracing for membership declines. The jobless may have a difficult time finding low-cost individual policies in New York…
The consumer-driven health plan movement is undergoing a shakeup in California with health plans passing along double-digit rate increases for renewing customers to make up for losses on the high-dedu…
Enrollment in Illinois HMOs continues to decline with the most recent data from HealthLeaders-InterStudy showing a 14 percent decrease from the year before. HMOs now comprise about 18 percent of the c…
Iowa's dominant insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa, has unveiled its new Blue Transitions product aimed at drawing more of Iowa's farmers into high-deductible health plans.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas is the immovable behemoth of the Texas market with more than 4.2 million members, but the race for second place is hotly contested, and Aetna has earned silver by leapi…
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is Goliath in that state's insurance arena, but national plans are picking up Alabama members too. The insurance market is widening in Huntsville and Mobile t…
