WellPoint, insurance commissioner get earful from lawmakers
State House insurance committee chair grills executives about WellPoint’s 21-percent premium increase for individual policyholders
in Indiana.
Health Care Costs
Articles
State lawmakers to probe WellPoint premium hikes
Three WellPoint executives will be on hand Wednesday morning to answer questions about premium increases on its individual
policies, which have risen as high as 39 percent this year.
ANALYSIS: Insurance rate hikes at heart of health-care debate
Individual insurance rate hikes like those recently planned for WellPoint Inc.’s California customers might be unlikely to
spread to those covered through their employers. But such hikes will affect a huge number of Americans — the 46 million
with no insurance at all.
WellPoint: More employers involved in provider talks
Employer activism is on the rise when it comes to keeping hospitals honest in their negotiations with health insurers.
Executives at Indianapolis-based WellPoint say more employers are airing their displeasure when hospital
systems ask for double-digit reimbursement increases.
Health care reform will go on regardless of federal government
Massachusetts’ election of a Republican senator has put health reform legislation on life support. But for the health
care industry, reform is a reality that isn’t going to die.
Health care reform dead; long live reform
Massachusetts’ election of a Republican senator has put health reform legislation on life support. But for the health
care industry, reform is a reality that isn’t going to die.
State Republicans try to block health reform mandates
Joint resolutions in the state Legislature seek to amend the state constitution to block enforcement of provisions in the
federal bills that would require individuals to buy insurance and all but the smallest employers to help pay for it.
Health care spending slows in most sectors, but government spending increases
Health spending is growing slower than it has in 48 years, but whether health care reform will continue the trend is the
subject of debate here and around the country.
Grass-roots groups prepare to fill gaps in health care reform
Legislation set to come out of Washington will not change the most fundamental problems of the health
care system, leaving it up to states, cities and companies to figure out what to do about it.
Investors cheer Senate bill while WellPoint cries foul
Exemption for not-for-profit health plans could saddle WellPoint with nearly $2 billion a year in new taxes.
Hoosier biz groups oppose Senate health bill
Group presidents tell Indiana senators that the reform bill would expand dysfunctions of current health care systems.
Legislators could test drugmakers’ support for health overhaul
The pharmaceutical industry may have to cough up more than the $80 billion it agreed to contribute to President Barack Obama’s
health overhaul effort, reflecting pressure from Democrats and their supporters for more money to cover older and low-income
people.
Health care reform could drive more people to buy their own insurance
If Congress passes health care reform, more people will become like Juli Erhart-Graves, whose family spends nearly 18 percent
of its income on health insurance and out-of-pocket medical costs.
Hoosiers ‘waste’ $2.5B a year on health care, group says
Analysis of Medicare data finds that Indiana hospitals and doctors rack up higher costs to treat the same conditions as the
nation’s model markets.
St. Vincent-Novia clinic partnership cuts out insurance middleman
The St. Vincent Health hospital system has joined with Indianapolis-based Novia CareClinics LLC to set up clinics on employers’
campuses, offering health care for their workers with no insurance companies involved.
Indiana near top in smoking survey; national rate rises
A survey found cigarette smoking rose slightly on a national basis for the first time in almost 15 years and that Indiana
had the second highest smoking rate among states.
House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate
A government health insurance plan included in the House health care reform bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate.
WellPoint, Obama administration battle over cost of health reform to employers
At this point in the health reform debate, you have to take numbers from any side with a grain of salt. That said, Indianapolis-based
WellPoint Inc. has done perhaps the only local analysis of how proposed reforms would affect the cost of health insurance
for employers.
Expert: Wishard referendum will pass
IUPUI political scientist Bill Blomquist predicts the Wishard hospital referendum will pass by a "comfortable"
margin.
Expert: Wishard referendum will pass
IUPUI political scientist Bill Blomquist predicts passage of the Wishard hospital referendum by a "comfortable" margin.