CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has purchased Medicaid  managed care organization plans in Maryland and Washington as the region’s dominant health insurer adds Medicaid plans to its portfolio for the first time in decades, the insurer announced Friday. The nonprofit insurer bought ...

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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and LifeBridge Health hope that combining to fund innovative health startups can suggest ways to cut costs and find efficiencies across the payer-provider relationship. The effort started Wednesday morning with a pitch competition where the insurer and ...

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An employee of Johns Hopkins Health System was approached by then-Sen. Catherine Pugh about buying her “Health Holly” children’s books but declined, a system spokeswoman said Wednesday. At the time, Pugh sat on the Senate Finance Committee, the panel responsible ...

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More than 1,600 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield members on the individual market heeded the insurer’s call to switch plans for 2019, potentially tapping into hundreds of dollars a month in savings. While preparing its rates for 2019, CareFirst realized that thousands ...

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Frustration over the rising cost of prescription drugs may be reaching a tipping point for Maryland stakeholders. Last week, Baltimore, which runs a self-funded health plan for its employees, filed a federal lawsuit alleging a pharmaceutical company had engaged in ...

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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield may make a play to enter the Medicare Advantage and managed Medicaid markets, Brian Pieninck, the insurer’s president and CEO, said. Pieninck took over as CareFirst’s president and CEO over the summer. CareFirst has not been in ...

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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has awarded a combined $2.1 million to 11 community health organizations fighting substance use disorders, including the opioid epidemic, leaders announced at Baltimore City Hall Wednesday. The grants, totaling between $100,000 and $382,000 each, follow a request ...

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A busy week is in store for health policy in Maryland as regulators, advocates, consumers and insurers consider the present and future of the state’s individual market. Monday, the Maryland Insurance Administration will hear from insurers and the public as ...

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Maryland’s bid to lower health care premiums on the individual market through a reinsurance program could be paying off as Kaiser Permanente has refiled its rate request for 2019.

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The board of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange voted Friday on a solution to an issue where the state’s new reinsurance program could cause duplicative payments under the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment program. Kaiser Permanente, one of the state’s ...

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