News From Around the Web
> Humana announced its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint in 2015 during an event at the White House last week. The insurer hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent through 2017. Announcement
> Highmark now provides a self-administered colon cancer screening option at no cost to its Medicare Advantage members, the insurer announced last week. Offered through the Highmark House Call Program, the screening is viewed as more convenient for members because they are able to complete it in their homes. Announcement
> Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) has nominated Katharine Wade, a former Cigna vice president, for the state's next insurance commissioner. During her time at Cigna, Wade oversaw government affairs and supervised Affordable Care Act implementation for the insurer's product filings. Article
Provider News
> Now that it's clear that end-of-life care in the United States frequently fails patients, there are several indications that the healthcare industry and policymakers have finally started to take steps in a new direction, Thomas Harter, M.D., writes in a recent Health Affairs blog post. Article
> As the healthcare industry debates which quality measures are the most meaningful, one expert says the problem with current benchmarks is that they focus on what is easy to assess rather than what matters most to patients. Article
And finally … The "tide of the century" that happens every 18 years. Article