Blue Cross reports progress on contract (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia said it made progress toward a new contract with Piedmont Healthcare after the two sides met for nine hours Friday, in the first negotiating session since their agreement expired July 1. The talks between Georgia's largest health insurer and Piedmont followed weeks of hostile public comments, combative ads, and anxiety and frustration for patients. The

Blue Cross boosts individual health-insurance plans in Florida (Sun-Sentinel)
Trying to get a bigger piece of the health insurance market for individual policies, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc. has introduced two plans that provide essential benefits at a lower cost -- but with larger co-payments and higher out-of-pocket maximums.

Blue Cross to Refund Nonsmoking Policyholders Who Inadvertently Paid Tobacco-User Rates (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has announced a new policy to issue refunds to nonsmoking individual policyholders who, although eligible, have not been paying tobacco-free premium rates.