News From Around the Web
> Wellmark has opted not to sell plans on Iowa's insurance exchange for the 2016 plan year, Healthcare Payer News reported. The Hawkeye State's largest insurer hasn't completely ruled out joining the exchange in the future. Article
> Access Health CT may have to increase its insurance assessments, but those fees will remain lower than any other state-run insurance exchange, the exchange's CEO told the Connecticut Mirror. If the fee hike isn't approved, the exchange may have to dip into its reserves--a luxury few other state exchanges have. Article
> Use of and spending on mental health services for Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities vary so much by geography that the issue warrants "research scrutiny and policy attention," according a study in the journal Psychiatric Services. Study
Health Anti-Fraud News
> A judge has ordered ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, M.D., charged with 76 counts of healthcare fraud and entwined in a corruption case with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), to remain in jail until his trial in February 2016. Federal prosecutors successfully argued that Melgen was a flight risk due to his ties to the Dominican Republic. Article
> Current statistics show that TRICARE is spending $335 million each month on prescription medications, an eight-fold jump from the $42 million it spent each month last year. Article
And finally … Apparently some people need to be told not to chase bears with dull hatchets. Article