New Indiana law praised by physical therapists
The measure, which took effect Monday, allows people to be evaluated and treated by a physical therapist for 24 calendar days without a doctor's referral.
Health Care & Insurance
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Obama administration delays health law business mandate
In a major concession to business groups, the Obama administration Tuesday unexpectedly announced a one-year delay, until after the 2014 elections, in a central requirement of the new health care law.
Call the midwife: Doctors, hospitals, patients all guilty of driving up childbirth costs
I can see the business model of the physicians and hospitals at work as they recommend tests of questionable necessity. Yet when it’s my own wife and son, it’s easy to think of a terrible outcome to avert with just one more test.
Universities’ patents often lack commercial applications
The state's universities crank out patents that find their way to pharmaceutical, prosthetics and surgery technology companies. But they also generate reams of patents in areas with few industrial applications.
Cook Group looking forward to next 50 years
For leaders of a company looking back on 50 years of existence, Cook Group President Kem Hawkins and Chairman Steve Ferguson spend a lot of time talking about the future.
Most Indiana businesses adhere to smoking ban
State Excise Police say just 108 of the 300,000 Indiana businesses covered by the law have been cited for violating the law, which took effect in July 2012.
Miami man pleads guilty to $90M Lilly drug heist
Thieves broke into the Connecticut warehouse of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. in 2010 by scaling an exterior wall and cutting a hole in the roof. They lowered themselves to the floor and disabled alarms before using a forklift to load pallets of drugs into a getaway vehicle.
St. Vincent gives big execs the ax; current job cuts just ‘first pass’
The job cuts at St. Vincent Health last month were so extensive that even two of the hospital system’s C-suite executives got the ax. And one local hospital accountant predicts these cuts are just the first pass that St. Vincent—and all of its hospital peers—will have to make.
Physician pay: What goes up must come down
Compensation in the most common physician specialties has been growing much faster than inflation for the past five years. Now, financially squeezed hospitals are set to reverse that trend.
Benefits firm to continue growth spurt, add 25 jobs
Nyhart Actuary & Employee Benefits plans to invest $840,000 to lease and equip an expansion of its Indianapolis headquarters, and already has started hiring.
Feds mull covering Alzheimer’s test that uses Lilly’s Amyvid
The $3,000 test for the first time accurately identifies the signature brain plaques of the debilitating disease.
CNO repurchases $50M in shares in second quarter
The Carmel-based insurer expects to repurchase $250 million to $300 million of securities this year.
St. Vincent Health eliminating about 865 jobs in Indiana
It was not clear how many workers were losing their jobs in the Indianapolis area. However, people familiar with the cuts said the reductions were heavy in the administrative ranks, and many of those jobs are on the city’s north side.
Answer on Indiana Medicaid plan could take some time
The head of the state Family and Social Services Administration said Tuesday that the federal government is expected to approve an extension of the Healthy Indiana Plan, but a request to use the plan for an Indiana Medicaid expansion could take much longer.
Lilly wins patent lawsuit on J&J Alzheimer’s research
A patent held by J&J’s Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research & Development unit isn’t valid, Judge Richard Arnold said in a ruling in London Tuesday.
Obamacare rebates total $22.6M in Indiana
Indiana consumers are set to receive rebates that are 59 percent larger this year as Obamacare continues to force health insurers to refund premiums that exceed actual medical claims by more than 20 percent.
WellPoint’s respite from criticism will be short-lived
With recent attention focused on hospital prices, WellPoint and its peers have been enjoying a nice break from their long-running status as Public Enemy No. 1 in the nation’s health care debate. They shouldn’t expect it to last.
WellPoint cap program saves Calpers big money
The nation’s largest pension fund worked with the Indianapolis-based health insurer to cut medical costs 19 percent by capping the price of some surgeries, in the latest sign payers are taking a tougher line against rising hospital claims.
Lilly’s experimental diabetes drug helps patients lose weight
Lilly’s drug, if approved, may be a significant competitor to Novo Nordisk A/S’s Victoza, which generated $1.64 billion in 2012.
Indiana tangles with shortage of rural doctors
The federal health care overhaul is expected to exacerbate problems regarding access to care in rural Indiana communities where is there is already a shortage of doctors and other health care providers.