• California: Blue Shield of California (BSC), one of the largest health plans in the state, has undergone a significant restructuring of its business. Under the restructure, BSC created a parent company called Ascendium to oversee its insurance business, its managed Medicaid subsidiary, and its clinical services firm Altais. Ascendium also includes a new health services business called Stellarus, which is designed to scale and sell BSC pharmacy and technology services to other insurers. Meanwhile, BSC has named Lois Quam, who became the organization's president last year, as CEO, making her the first woman in the role. Paul Markovich, who was BSC's CEO for over 10 years, will become president of Ascendium and lead Stellarus on an interim basis. (Pifer, Healthcare Dive, 1/9)
• District of Columbia: Last week, SCOTUS agreed to hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act's coverage of preventive services. In the lawsuit, employers from Texas argued that the panels of experts who advise HHS on which services should be covered without cost-sharing are unconstitutional because the members are neither confirmed by the Senate nor chosen by the head of an agency confirmed by the Senate. It also argues that certain requirements, such as coverage of the HIV prevention drug PrEP and "contraceptive methods that some regard as abortifacients," violate employers' religious rights. So far, lower courts have backed the challengers on some of their arguments, and the challengers are hoping to add back some of the arguments that were previously rejected in their appeal to SCOTUS. "We need certainty, and the Supreme Court stepping and defining what does and doesn't stand would help everyone in the health care industry plan for future enrollment," said Andrew Twinamatsiko, director of the Health Policy and Law Initiative at Georgetown University's O'Neill Institute. "But granting cert also means there's a likelihood that all the services might be gone, so it's a mixed bag." According to Politico, SCOTUS will likely hear arguments in the case in March or April, and a decision could be made by the end of June. (Ollstein/Gerstein, Politico, 1/10)
• Indiana: Last week, Indiana University Health reported a recent cyberattack had compromised personal information from an undisclosed number of patients. According to IU Health, the organization first detected unusual activity on an employee's email account on Nov. 8, 2024. Later, an investigation from a third-party forensics firm found that an unauthorized recipient had access to the email account between Aug. 27, 2024, and Oct. 2, 2024. Some of the compromised personal information may have included ages, addressed, diagnoses, medical record numbers, and Social Security numbers. IU Health began notifying affected individuals about the data breach on Jan. 2. The organization has also offered one year of credit monitoring for individuals whose Social Security numbers were compromised. According to HHS' Office for Civil Rights, over 700 healthcare-related data breaches, which affected 184 million patients, were reported in 2024. (Hudson, Modern Healthcare, 1/7)

Enhanced subsidies have had a significant impact on Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace enrollment, driving record-high numbers. But what will happen to these subsidies after 2025? Dive into the implications for health plans and learn how they can navigate the uncertain future.