This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Matthew and Ron discuss recent payor headlines. First, we all know the insurance companies make a lot of money and now that their 2022 Quarter 2 earnings reports are out, we take a look at how it affects providers and patients and what is says about the economy. In this episode we discuss Elevance (formerly Anthem) (ELV 0.00%↑), UnitedHealthcare (UNH 0.00%↑), Cigna (CI 0.00%↑), Centene (CNC 0.00%↑), and Kaiser Permenante. We excluded Aetna because it is difficult to extrapolate their earnings because it falls under the retail giant CVS Health (CVS 0.00%↑).
Then, Matthew and Ron briefly discuss why MaineHealth would drop BlueCross BlueShield of Maine in favor of Aetna for their hospital employees.
Finally, BlueCross BlueShield of Mississippi (BCBS MS) has filed a defamation suit against several hospital executives of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). UMMC recently terminated its contract with BCBS MS after they couldn’t reach an agreement for a new contract. Following that termination, UMMC began an advertising and social media campaign against BCBS MS. BCBS MS, in turn, is saying it is false and defamatory. We take a look at how this changes the negotiation game for providers and payors and whether or not BCBS MS can win its lawsuit.
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Articles mentioned in this week’s program:
Big payers ranked by Q2 revenue - Becker’s Payer Issues
Cigna’s $1.6B net income in Q2: 6 notes - Becker’s Payer Issues
Kaiser posts $1.3B loss in Q2 - Becker’s Hospital Review
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals Q2 2022 financials - Kaiser Permanente
MaineHealth swaps Anthem for Aetna to administer employee health plan - Becker’s Payer Issues
Why BCBS Mississippi is suing 3 hospital execs for defamation - Becker’s Payer Issues
‘Demonstrably false’ | Insurance provider files defamation suit against UMMC - WLBT News
Ep. 16 - BCBS Mississippi Sues for Defamation (and other payor headlines)