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General Motors Co. has struck a deal with a Detroit-based hospital system to offer a new coverage option to employees, upending the traditional benefits setup in an attempt to lower costs and improve care. The auto maker’s agreement with Henry Ford Health System covers everything from doctor visits to surgical procedures. By signing a contract directly with one health-care provider, as other companies have done, GM says it can offer a plan that costs employees less than other options while also promising special customer-service perks and quality standards. (Wilde Mathews, 8/6)

The direct contract with GM is the first of its kind in Michigan. Only about 3 percent of self-insured companies nationally have some form of direct contracts with providers, said the National Business Group on Health. But a growing number of large self-insured employers—Boeing, Walmart, Lowe's, Whole Foods, Disney and Intel—have found that one sure way to reduce employee healthcare costs and improve service is to cut out middle-men health insurers and develop with integrated healthcare delivery systems that share cost savings and pay based on value. (Greene, 8/6)

Carl Icahn is going public with his campaign to scuttle Cigna Corp.’s $54 billion plan to buy Express Scripts Holding Co. The billionaire activist investor plans to send an open letter Tuesday urging fellow Cigna shareholders to vote against the deal, which he calls a “$60 billion folly” carrying a “ridiculous” price tag, according to a draft seen by The Wall Street Journal. (Lombardo, 8/6)