Anthem, Cigna to help Obama add value to U.S. medical billing

The private companies, and groups including the American Cancer Society, will be members of an advisory group the Obama administration calls the Health care Payment Learning and Action Network. No money will change hands between the government and the organizations, and the government won't ask for a commitment from the outside groups beyond support for the Obama administration's goals for Medicare.

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Members of the network are expected to share their techniques for paying health care provider in ways that emphasize value over the quantity of services delivered. Anthem, for example, said in a statement that 38 percent of its patients receive care from doctors and hospitals participating in arrangements that require them to show value, such as oncologists who agree to use "the most clinically effective and efficient care pathways" in their practices.

Anthem "is fully supportive of the Department of Health and Human Services' goal to transform the nation's health system to emphasize value over volume," the company said in its statement.

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