Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. became the third U.S. health insurer this month to increase its 2010 profit forecast, stirring
investor concern that state and federal regulators may increase scrutiny of industry pricing.
The Indianapolis-based health insurer raised its full-year profit forecast after it earned $722.4 million, 4 percent higher
than during the same quarter a year ago. Revenue and health plan membership fell.
When the Indiana Health Information Exchange launched in 2004, it was one of nine truly operational exchanges around the country.
Today, the Indianapolis-based organization is one of 73, according to the latest national survey by the eHealth Initiative.
Marion County survey finds 80 percent of respondents in debt to local hospitals, with about half saying they were never informed
about the availability
of charity care or payment plans.
Massachusetts-based Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately held company
developing an enzyme-replacement therapy for disorders of the pancreas.
The scramble by local hospitals to form their physicians and facilities into “clinically integrated” networks
that can do business with employers and health insurers has another huge motivating factor: Beginning January 2012, they can
also do business with Medicare, the massive federal program for seniors.
Indiana and other states face a struggle as they grapple with putting the health care changes into place in a relatively short
span of time while they also contend with the economic downtown and strained state budgets.
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker eliminated 140 information technology jobs in June through retirements, resignations and some cuts. Another 115
cuts will be made this month, and the remainder by the end of the year.
Nearly four months after President Barack Obama signed a health reform bill into law, businesses are still grappling with its
impact on the health benefits they offer their employees.
CNO Financial Group Inc. will resort to a sealed-bid auction to unload the lavish Hilbert mansion in Carmel, which has been
on the market for five years. Its latest asking price was $9.9 million.
WellPoint Inc. is turning from opponent of the health care reform law passed in March to “trusted adviser.” It launched a website, healthychat.com, where company representatives answer customers’ questions about the new health reform law.
Two Indianapolis giants—Eli Lilly and Co. and Roche Diagnostics—are working hard to pair up drugs and diagnostic
tests to gin up more sales.
Both of Lilly’s late-stage treatments are designed to reduce plaque in the brain called beta amyloid, thought by researchers
to be a main contributor to Alzheimer’s. A drug that stops or reduces memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s may be worth more
than $5 billion
a year, an analyst says, helping Lilly overcome the coming patent losses on several important pharmaceuticals.
Eli Lilly and Co. will cut 170 jobs—mostly in Indianapolis—from its manufacturing and quality division by the
end of the year as it continues its efforts to slim down before losing revenue from patent expirations on its bestselling
drugs.
The Logansport State Hospital will have 355 workers laid off and 80 vacant positions eliminated under the plan, while 106
people will lose jobs at the Richmond State Hospital.
Unemployment in Indiana has moderated slightly, but more than 313,000 Hoosiers remain out of work. And with attempts to extend
benefits for the jobless stalled in Congress, it’s likely more people will struggle to pay medical bills.
Baldwin & Lyons Inc. provides property-and-casualty insurance for various industries, including trucking.
Dr. Bill Tierney will replace Dr. Tom Inui on Oct. 1 at helm of Indianapolis-based medical research organization.
Greatbatch Medical wants to expand its facility on the east side of Indianapolis to accommodate its entrance into the orthopedics
market. The
New York-based company specializes in cardiovascular products.
The global financial press keeps asking John Lechleiter for his end-game strategy to survive Eli Lilly and Co.'s nightmarish
patent challenges. And, like a broken record, the Lilly CEO keeps giving the same answer: pipeline, pipeline, pipeline—no
mega-merger.
