Indy corporate leaders eye nutrition initiative
The group that oversees Indiana’s economic development initiatives for life sciences, information technology, transportation and clean technology is moving toward a fifth thrust focused on nutrition.
Health Care & Insurance
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State officials explain extension for Healthy Indiana Plan
Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Debra Minott took questions on the Healthy Indiana Plan two weeks after the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed off on a one-year extension and some sizable changes to the program, including a new limit on earnings.
Top 10 blogs for the business of health care
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Analyst foresees managed care growth in 2014
Major health insurers like WellPoint Inc. are in line for another year of growth, as the health care overhaul implements key elements in its push to cover millions of uninsured people.
Indiana lawmaker to sponsor concussion training bill
The measure would require all football coaches using taxpayer-funded facilities to be certified to recognize the signs of concussions in players and get them treatment.
Anthem to omit some big hospitals from exchange network
Most of Indianapolis’ major hospitals and physician practices will not be available through Anthem’s exchange plan, but instead will be working with a health plan run by Indianapolis-based MDwise Inc.
Worried about future, IU Health cuts 800 jobs despite profit rise
Admissions at Indiana University Health hospitals suddenly dipped 4.3 percent this year, but income from operations shot up 19 percent.
IU Health to lay off 800 employees
The Indianapolis-based hospital system said Thursday it must make the cuts because fewer patients have been coming to hospitals and payment rates for its services have been declining.
Doctors, as well as patients, in the dark about prices
If you’re frustrated that health care prices are both unavailable and incomprehensible, you’re not alone. Your physician is in the dark too.
Julian Center blames shortfall for counseling center closure
Shutting the 2-year-old counseling center’s doors in October will affect 179 patients, most of whom are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault.
Drugmakers turn up marketing efforts in diabetes market
With a half-dozen new products lined up for approval within two years, the fight to win the growing $22 billion U.S. diabetes market is expected to intensify.
Indiana University shifting 50 jobs to temp agency
The move is partly being made to avoid having to add those workers to the IU health insurance plan as required by the federal health care overhaul.
Analysis: Obamacare exchanges will push Anthem’s premiums lower
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana expects the average premiums it charges on the health insurance exchanges being created by Obamacare to be about $60 per year less for each of its health plan members than they would have been without the law.
Hospitals aren’t bad guys; they’re just business guys
Even in the face of alarmingly high hospital prices, no one should conclude that hospitals are the bad guys in the health care system. Hospital executives are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing as the business leaders of their institutions.
After years of success, Harlan Laboratories caught in debt vise
The company may violate loan covenants in the next three to six months, and its ability to refinance a $280 million loan that matures in July 2014 is “highly questionable,” Moody’s says.
Ouch! Indy hospitals charging employers three times more than Medicare
A new study found that Indianapolis-area hospitals are charging patients insured by their employers 264 percent more for outpatient services than the federal Medicare program pays for the exact same services at the same hospitals.
OurHealth readies citywide network of employer clinics
In a bid to make employer-sponsored health clinics available to companies of all sizes, Indianapolis-based OurHealth will open a network of seven offices around Indianapolis next year.
Only now is Pence team starting Medicaid talks
Gov. Mike Pence’s go-slow approach could push an expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Indiana to the end of 2014. And he’s OK with that.
Healthy Indiana Plan extends trial run a year
Indiana is being granted a limited extension of its Healthy Indiana Plan while state and federal health care leaders continue negotiating a possible Medicaid expansion.
Greenwood biotech firm’s assets to hit auction block
The remnants of ill-fated Elona Biotechnologies Inc. will be auctioned on Sept. 27, presenting a rare turnkey opportunity for entrepreneurs interested in jumping into the life sciences industry.