WellPoint: Consumers will control health insurance
The future of health insurance is lower profit margins and greater consumer control. WellPoint Inc. just bet $900 million on it.
Health Care Costs
Articles
Price hikes offset slower health care use
Newly available data from private health insurance plans show that price hikes by hospitals, doctors and drug companies have kept employer spending rising recently even as their employees and dependents have moderated their consumption of health care services.
Justices grill both sides in IU Health case
Much of the nearly 45 minutes of arguments and questioning on May 10 involved the justices and the lawyers for both parties trying unsuccessfully to apply various scenarios from the retail world of commerce to health care pricing.
TITTLE: Big challenges loom for nursing facilities
Boom in elderly population and falling reimbursements expected to cause squeeze.
State’s high court to weigh hospital bills
The Indiana Supreme Court this week will consider whether hospital billing practices should be put on trial. The state’s highest court will hear oral arguments Thursday in a case in which two uninsured patients have sued Indiana University Health for charging them much higher prices than it would have charged insured patients.
Quest to rein in health care costs gives momentum to on-site clinics
Health care firms have opened a flurry of clinics at Hoosier employers the past two years as businesses increasingly embrace the concept as a way to restrain employee health costs.
Set pricing helps boost diagnostic network’s growth
When the same MRI at one facility costs $600 and at another costs $2,200, Dr. Robert Gregori would call that a business opportunity.
Health insurers could pay $16.5M in rebates
Health insurance customers in Indiana will get an estimated $16.5 million in rebates this year, but the average amount received per person will be less than the national average and less than 3 percent of the total cost of coverage.
State’s high court to weigh in on lawsuit over IU Health billing
Indiana's hospital boards and trial lawyers are closely monitoring a lawsuit that accuses the state's largest hospital group of charging uninsured patients more for treatment than insured patients.
Report: Rebates from health care law will top $1B
More than 3 million health insurance policyholders and thousands of employers will share $1.3 billion in rebates this year, thanks to health care reforms, a research group said Thursday. Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. is expected to return $94 million.
IU doc group becomes Eskenazi Medical
A group of 123 doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants have formed the Eskenazi Medical Group in order to focus on maximizing patient care and related bonus payments at Wishard Health Services.
Trend lines look good for WellPoint
More people have jobs and yet the use of health care remains stagnant—which should drive nice profits when WellPoint Inc. reports first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The trends even have some wondering if consumer-driven health plans are finally starting to make a real difference in Americans’ health care spending habits.
Q&A
Sam Gibbs is president of eHealth Government Solutions, part of California-based eHealthInsurance Services Inc. The company, founded in 1997, pioneered the sale of health insurance over the Internet. Gibbs spoke about the options for public and private health insurance exchanges, including the state-based exchanges mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Is health care bubble about to burst?
Citigroup economist writes that U.S. health care sector "reminds us somewhat ominously of the bubble in housing finance" because public spending is fueling private profits.
Indy is poster child (again) for medical arms race
Indianapolis was highlighted in a new national study because its hospitals have been particularly aggressive at expanding their geographic reach—raising concerns among health insurers and even hospitals themselves that new medical facilities and market power can only lead to higher prices.
Supreme skepticism boosts WellPoint stock
Wall Street's favorable reaction came not only because harsh questioning by the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices put in doubt the health reform law’s mandate that all Americans buy health insurance, but also because the justices raised the possibility that they would strike down requirements that insurers accept all customers, regardless of health.
Supreme Court can’t stop ‘reform’
Leaping costs, aging populace and cash-strapped consumers will drive reform in health care industries even if court strikes down law.
COLVIN: Get ready for a perfect storm in Worker’s Compensation
Rates are set to rise as insurers increasingly note the link between older workers’ health and productivity.
Patient referrals can be lucrative for hospitals
Physician liaisons are becoming key in recruiting efforts.
Hospitals push preemptive care with special programs
Hospitals around Indianapolis and the nation are expanding programs to help people before they become patients. They are trying to teach cooking as well as treat cancer, to do social work as well as do surgery.