Carrier News

Blue Shield of California Announces Q2 Rates and More Dental Options

Blue Shield of California is focusing on keeping health care costs as low as possible, which is reflected in their rate actions for Q2 1019: A 1.5% PPO rate increase, for a 3.5% annualized incre...

Health Net Issues Rate Update for Q2 2019

In Q2 2019, Health Net reports a statewide average increase of 3.1% for full HMO plans and a 1.9% increase for limited HMO plans. Full PPO plans will see a 2.7% increase, and Limited PPO plans will se...

Oscar Health Extends & Expands Underwriting Promotion

Oscar Health has extended and expanded their relaxed promotion through June 15, 2019 effective dates. Relaxed Participation Rules Only employees in Oscar’s service area, Los Angeles and Orange Countie...

Update on Anthem Blue Cross and Sutter Health Negotiations

Anthem Blue Cross and Sutter Health are engaged in negotiations to renew their contract, which is set to end on April 1, 2019. While they continue to negotiate, California Department of Managed Care ...

Blue Shield of California Small Business Market — Some Bronze PPO Off-Exchange Plans Closing To New Sales

The Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) has required that Blue Shield of California pause actively marketing the plans below for new sales until modifications are made and the benefit changes app...

Kaiser Permanente® Addresses Housing Insecurity in Oakland

Kaiser Permanente® unveiled several initiatives to create stable housing for vulnerable populations in Oakland, CA: About $5.2 million has been committed from The Housing for Health Fund to acqu...

Blue Shield of California Releases Q2 2019 Rates

Blue Shield of California’s Q2 2019 rates are available to quote. Blue Shield is reporting the following statewide average rate actions for all plans: PPO rates increase 1.5% in the second quar...

Western Health Advantage Offers New Payment Options

Western Health Advantage (WHA) has made it easier to install new groups by offering two more payment options. Option 1: For Groups Setting Up Ongoing Electronic-Funds Transfer (EFT) They can pay vi...

Sharp Health Plan Announces Q2 2019 Rate Update

Sharp Health Plan has announced their Q2 2019 rate update. All HMO plans will increase by 0.8%. There are no plan changes with this increase. Expect quoting to be available in the next week. As a ...

Western Health Advantage Releases 2019 Q2 Rate Update

Western Health Advantage (WHA) Q2 2019 rates are approved, and plans are available for quoting. While the overall statewide rate change shows 1%, all Platinum, Gold, and Silver plans received a rate p...

DMHC Approves Cigna’s Acquisition of Express Scripts

The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) approved Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. “The conditions imposed on Cigna and Express Scripts will improve plan performance, increase ac...

Anthem Blue Cross Releases Q2 2019 Rates

Anthem Blue Cross made a huge overhaul to their portfolio in Q1 2019. They terminated plans, added plans, revised their plan names, and enhanced their tele-health offering. So what can we expect in ...