Here are five updates on Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, which are owned by Elevance Health, one of the largest payers in the U.S., as reported by Becker's since May 21:
1. California fined Anthem Blue Cross of California and its Medicaid subsidiary a total of $850,000 for illegally limiting coverage for gender dysphoria treatments.
2. Elevance Health struck a deal with Astrana Health to operate clinics for Anthem Blue Cross members in California.
3. Blue Shield of California snagged a contract managing care for 400,000 California state employees over Anthem Blue Cross, which has held the contract for more than two decades.
4. A federal judge ruled CMS must recalculate the Medicare Advantage star ratings for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia. The insurer sued to challenge CMS' star ratings methodology for several of its subsidiaries in December, but the judge ruled CMS needs to recalculate ratings only for BCBS of Georgia.
5. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and Chicago-based CommonSpirit reached an agreement to keep 11 CommonSpirit Health hospitals in Colorado in Anthem's network after being out-of-network for over two weeks. The five-year agreement is retroactive to May 1, when the previous contract expired.