Aetna agrees to buy Humana in $37B deal
Aetna Inc. agreed to buy Humana Inc., the second-largest provider of private Medicare insurance, for $37 billion in cash and stock to broaden its health-care coverage.
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Community Health to pay $20M to settle false claims charges
The Indianapolis-based hospital system has agreed to pay $20.3 million to settle claims that it overbilled the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
No way out for employers on health benefits
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the tax credits for Obamacare is just the latest in a string of developments that have kept employers from ditching their group health plans, as many predicted they would.
Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling is a win for Republicans—they just can’t see it
For at least 20 years, Republicans have been pushing for giving tax credits to help individuals buy health insurance. The Supreme Court’s latest Obamacare ruling does Republicans the favor of preserving them.
Groups estimate 160,000 Hoosiers could lose subsidies
About 160,000 low- and moderate-income Indiana residents could lose health insurance premium subsidies provided under the Affordable Care Act if the U.S. Supreme Court rules them illegal, two groups estimated Tuesday.
No 1,000-percent markups at Indy’s hospitals
But hospitals’ list prices in Indiana are more than three times what the federal Medicare program pays.
Buying Cigna would give 60 percent of Hoosier health insurance market to Anthem
If Anthem merged with Cigna Corp. it would create a behemoth with even greater negotiating power, which could benefit employers but hurt doctors and hospitals.
If Supremes gut Obamacare’s tax credits, the fixes are easy. But the politics are hard.
The Obama administration could write a new regulation. Congress could pass a short law. States could run a low-cost exchange. But the politics might require all parties to let the tax credits die while they try to pin the blame on the other side.
Health insurers request modest rate hikes
While health insurers in states around the country have proposed large rate increases for the health plans they sell on the Obamacare exchanges, insurers in Indiana are asking for modest increases or even decreases. The bad news is that it appears the rest of the country is just catching up with Indiana’s already-high prices.
State readies $2M ad campaign to show off HIP replacement
The new version of the Healthy Indiana Plan, backed by Obamacare funding, has enrolled 229,000 new participants in four months without breaking stride.
Why Anthem could spend $34 billion to buy health insurer Humana
Wall Street analysts say a purchase of Louisville-based Humana Inc., which reportedly has put itself up for sale, would by Indianapolis-based Anthem. An Anthem-Humana marriage would be the biggest merger in the history of U.S. health insurance.
The top-paid doctors at Indy’s hospitals
It took $394,000 to rank in the top 1 percent of U.S. earners in 2013. And more than 100 of the Indiana contingent in that exclusive club were physicians employed by one of the four major hospital systems that operate in the Indianapolis area.
VA to cancel contract with Goodwill, ending jobs for 67 workers
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana Inc. is appealing a decision by the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center that would put 63 janitors and their four managers out of work by Aug. 1.
Health insurers press gas on value-based payments
In Indiana, Anthem has struck accountable care organization deals with 14 health care provider groups and signed up nearly 2,900 primary care providers to its medical home program. And it’s pushing for more in the future.
Anthem’s brand suffers small ding from data breach
Anthem Inc.’s brand has taken a noticeable hit since a massive data breach earlier this year, but the impact was blunted by positive perceptions of the way the company handled the breach.
Did Congress just kick off another wave of doc mergers?
Things got quiet after a wave of hospital systems' acquiring physician practices swept through central Indiana from 2008 to 2011. But a new wave could start now that Congress passed the "doc fix" last week.
Paying for low value
A recent ranking of health care value in all 50 states puts Indiana in the basement. By my rough figures, working-age Hoosiers are paying a couple billions dollars extra for their health care.
Finally, Congress OKs bill reshaping Medicare doctors’ fees
The Senate gave final congressional approval late Tuesday to the $214 billion bipartisan measure, which rewrites how Medicare pays doctors for treating over 50 million elderly people.
Financially fit IU Health still hoarding cash for fear of change
IU Health had one of its most profitable years ever in 2014, as it cut staff, boosted its physician office visits and improved bill collections. But it is still hoarding cash to be ready for future cuts in reimbursement as well as future building projects.
Semper Reformanda
Think we’re almost done with changes from Obamacare? Think again. Things won’t settle down any sooner than 2017, and they could actually get even wilder after that.