Highmark Updates | Week of July 6, 2015

Read about the Channel Insights and Group Updates for Highmark Blue Shield and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Click here to read more.

Update on SHOP Marketplaces for Small Businesses

When people think about the Affordable Care Act, they often picture the 10.2 million Americans who now have the health and financial security that come with having access to quality and affordable coverage through the individual Health Insurance Marketplace. Click here to read more.

Aetna to Acquire Humana

We recently announced that Aetna has agreed to acquire Humana, one of the country’s leading managed health care companies. Click here to read more.

Capital BlueCross Theon Care Manager

Capital BlueCross is rolling out Geneia’s Theon platform and its Care Engager module, a new analytics and reporting solution, to replace Blue Insights and traditional SARP reporting. Click here to read more.

UPMC | Producer Update 7/7/15 - Stop loss training class provided by OptumHealth Financial Services

UPMC Health Plan invites you to a training session on self-funded insurance hosted by OptumHealth Financial Services. Click here to read more.

Weekly PPACA Update Conference Call

In a continuing effort to assist our agent-partners in getting the information needed to flourish within the under 65 group and individual markets in Pennsylvania, we are holding weekly live webinars. They will serve as a place to get your questions answered and discuss topics and strategies that will lead to your continued success in the health insurance market. Click here to register.

Weekly PPACA Conference Call Archives

Click here to view the archived recordings of the PPACA Conference Calls.

Introducing the Best Employer Group Shopping Experience

Introducing URL's new Employer Marketplace, available to you by the end of summer! Using our streamlined system you can offer your employer groups the coverage to meet their needs, from core medical insurance to voluntary benefits. Click here to read more.

Preferred partners: A narrow-network antidote

Narrow-network restrictions help health insurance carriers participating in public exchanges limit their exposure to adverse selection and better manage the cost of patient care, but they’re also an annoyance for health care exchange enrollees who want unencumbered access to doctors and hospitals. Click here to read more.

More competition is supposed to help consumers. That might not be true with health insurance.

You may have heard the news over the weekend of a mega-merger between two of the country's biggest health insurance companies, Aetna and Humana. Click here to read more.

Qualifying Events Review

See if you can get 2015 health coverage. Click here to read more.

Aetna to buy rival Humana for $35B

Aetna intends to spend about $35 billion to buy rival Humana and become the latest health insurer bulking up on government business as the industry adjusts to the federal health care overhaul. Click here to read more.

Why the Aetna, Humana merger is a ‘lesson’ for brokers

Aetna’s purchase of Humana confirms analyst predictions of continued consolidation as carriers vie for market share, a trend industry experts fear will limit choice and force brokers to reinvent their business approach. Click here to read more.

Texas public exchange ID cards spark debate

Doctors think insurance cards in Texas that identify HIX enrollees could serve as a reminder to pay their monthly premiums and reduce the number of unpaid bills. Click here to read more.

Health Insurance Companies Seek Big Rate Increases for 2016

Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back. Click here to read more.