Tagged with UHC United Healthcare
Unitedhealth Posts Strong Earnings Growth in First Quarter
United Healthcare reported first-quarter revenues of $48.7 billion – a 9.4% year-over-year increase from last year. The insurer says that due to 3% insurance tax in Affordable Care Act, plan premiums will likely rise in 2018.
Studies Reveal Workers in HDHPs Pay Significantly Higher Annual Healthcare Costs
Two separate studies investigated why consumers respond to high-deductible plans by using less healthcare services, which in turn leads to a decrease in doctor visits and clinical laboratory test orders.
Justice Department Discloses False Claims Act Investigation into Multiple Payers
The U.S. Justice Department recently disclosed that there will be an investigation into four more major health insurers as part of a False Claims Act lawsuit filed against UnitedHealth Group in 2011.
Study Shows Surprise Medical Bills due to Excess Charges
Consumer Reports found 30% of patients with private insurance received a “surprise” medical bill from 2014 through 2015. According to a recent JAMA study, this is most likely due to the large number of physicians providing out-of-network services to a patient at an in-network facility and billing patients for the costs beyond what insurance will pay.
Highmark Will Not Sell Plans to One PA City on Federal Health Insurance Marketplace
Highmark confirms it will not sell plans to residents of York, PA on the federal health insurance marketplace on the 2017 Pennsylvania health insurance exchange.
CMS Temporarily Halts Medicare Advantage Auto-Enrollment Proposals
CMS has announced a temporary freeze on new proposals from health insurance companies pursuing automatic enrollment of commercial or Medicaid patients into Medicare Advantage plans.
UHC Announces Plans to Cut MPPR Discount Rate
In response to persistent efforts by radiology advocates, UnitedHealthcare says, in November, it will announce its plans to reduce its multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) rate for the professional component (PC) of advanced imaging services from the current 25% to 5% on January 1, 2017.
Ohio’s Managed Healthcare Plan Report Card Shows Scores of Average or Better
Ohio Medicaid officials released the state’s second annual report card of managed-care plans last month, with outcomes showing all five managed care plans scored average or better for how happy patients were with their doctors and how well they communicated and involved them in decisions about their care.
UHC will Require CLIA Number on Laboratory Claims
Effective November 1, for participating providers and August 1, for non-participating providers, UnitedHealthcare will require CLIA Number on Laboratory Claims submitted on a CMS 1500 form or HIPAA 5010 837 P file.
UHC Adopts CMS MPPR Reductions for Codes with Relative Value of 0
UHC Adopts CMS MPPR Multiple Procedure Policy for Codes with Relative Value of 0. Means payment reductions starting in 4Q.
IL – Proposed 2017 ACA Premium Increases
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois’ proposed exchange premiums for 2017 seeks range from +23% to +45% for its individual health-care plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.