$45M settlement awarded to North Dakota BCBS; Hepatitis C treatment spending soaring;

News From Around the Web

> Regulators have signed off on a $45 million settlement between a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and the state of Maryland over a botched health insurance exchange, according to the Dickinson Press. Article

> Up nearly 50 percent from the first quarter, New York State's Medicaid program spent nearly $185 million on hepatitis C drugs during the second quarter of 2015, accounting for more than 6 percent of all drug spending, Politico New York reports. Article

The most recent Affordable Care Act federal marketplace enrollment figures show that one state--Florida--accounts for an overwhelming share of Healthcare.gov's enrollees. Report

Healthcare News

> Despite some successful attempts to curb the trend. racial disparities  that affect black and Hispanic patients are still present in U.S. surgical outcomes, even at hospitals participating in a national program aimed at quality improvement. Article

Healthcare IT News

> A new report from the National Conference of State Legislators recommends that legislators, when working on policy frameworks to benefit telemedicine, should collaborate with stakeholders from within the industry. Article

And finally… Say what? Article