In recent years, escalating hospital-insurer disputes have left many patients, providers, and employers feeling powerless.

A dispute between New York’s Mount Sinai and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the latest examples of these squabbles cutting off healthcare access. About 9,000 Mount Sinai physicians went out of network for about 200,000 Anthem patients after the two sides couldn’t agree on pricing. That disruption lasted from March 1 until April 13, when they finally signed a contract.

Add insurer-hospital tension to rising healthcare costs from both hospitals and payers, sprinkle in frustration with third parties like pharmacy benefit managers—healthcare continues to be a complicated headache, particularly for self-funded employers that have their own money on the line.

So, some employers are taking health insurance into their own hands, bypassing carriers and inking contracts directly with providers. The specifics of direct contracts can vary, but typically refer to arrangements in which employers negotiate prices for procedures and medications directly with healthcare systems. The arrangements also typically allow access to healthcare data that employers can use to plan and manage costs.

Keep reading about this evolving landscape here.—CC, CV

As every parent who’s waved nervously from the dock as their teenager speeds off on a Jet Ski knows, accidents can happen. And when that Jet Ski is zipping away in another country, there’s even more to worry about. Dealing with an injury or illness when traveling, especially abroad, can be complicated, costly, and stressful.

Those scenarios are what Virginia-based Global Guardian was founded in 2012 to address. The global security and evacuation services firm and Cleveland Clinic announced a partnership on May 13 to extend customers’ access to the health system.

This comes as more hospitals are branching out and expanding their patient bases, especially in the telehealth age, with competitors like Amazon One Medical reaching patients all over the country and on demand.

Called the Cleveland Clinic Global MedConnect program, the partnership will provide users with security assistance, health alerts, and crisis response services, according to a release. It will also offer medical consultation as well as air and ground evacuation to Cleveland Clinic facilities around the world. As of 2023, the Business Journals reported that Global Guardian made $70 million in revenue. Annual family plans cost $405 and single coverage costs $280, per the company’s website.

Read more here about the new partnership.—CM

The first half of 2026 has been a busy time for health insurers, to say the least.

After years of struggling to contain high medical costs, payers have been performing better than expected this year after taking steps like upping premiums, exiting unprofitable areas and shedding costly Medicare Advantage and Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollees.

But new challenges have arisen. The Affordable Care Act Marketplace’s enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, motivating consumers to move to cheaper high-deductible plans or even go uninsured.

At the same time, prior authorization is under reform following consumer backlash against the industry, insurers are investing millions or even billions into AI, and new types of insurance models like individual coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) are growing in popularity.

Amid this flurry of activity, we asked health insurance leaders and industry experts how they feel the first half of the year has gone.

Read their insights right here.—CC