Express Scripts, WellPoint in contract fight
Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. said Tuesday it is in the middle of a contract dispute with WellPoint Inc., one of the biggest health insurers in the United States.
Health Care & Life Sciences
Articles
Endocyte shares plunge on clinical trial results
Shares of Endocyte Inc. plummeted more than 60 percent Tuesday morning after clinical trial results showed the company’s experimental ovarian cancer drug led to shorter survival times than treatment with a standard cancer drug.
Ball State: Diabetes rising at alarming rate
In 1993, only 3.8 percent of Hoosier adults had full-blown diabetes, compared with 9.8 percent today.
Medical Mutual eyes Indiana for growth
Health insurer expects enrollment in its health plan to grow 30 percent next year, to nearly 21,000. And then it expects growth of another 40 percent.
Lilly shares rise on possibility for Alzheimer’s drug
Eli Lilly and Co. stock rose to a one-month high Tuesday after an analyst said the possible success of the company’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug could double the share price.
Third-quarter profit dips at OneAmerica
OneAmerica earned $15.4 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, down 53 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Most of that difference came from a 17-percent jump in policy benefit payments.
Q&A
Carmel resident David Wasilewski has launched WhatNext, a website that uses algorithms to make it easier for cancer patients to connect with others in similar circumstances. Wasilewski, 39, spent eight years as chief operating officer of the Spanx line of body shapers and did health care consulting before that. In addition to helping patients, he thinks WhatNext can become a way for health care organizations share their expertise with patients in need.
Mills: Health care’s future is partnership
In spite of all the consolidation lately among hospitals, Community Health CEO Bryan Mills says the future of hospital systems will hinge more on partnerships like the one Community struck last week on its rehab hospital.
Brokers’ hopes dashed by feds
The Obama administration on Friday let stand an earlier rule that said brokers’ fees will have to count toward a 15-percent to 20-percent cap on administrative expenses placed on insurance plans by the 2010 health overhaul.
Takeda, Lilly may face thousands of suits over Actos claims
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and marketing co-partner Eli Lilly and Co. may face as many as 10,000 lawsuits in U.S. courts over allegations that their Actos diabetes drug causes bladder cancer.
WellPoint won’t put brand-name Lipitor on generics list
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer by enrollment, will favor a copy of the blockbuster cholesterol medication made by Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., the insurer said.
Failed dental chain lists no assets, $3.6 million debt
A New York dental chain that closed offices in 13 states, including eight in Indiana, without warning late last year lists no assets and liabilities of $3.6 million in a bankruptcy filing.
States suing over health care law collect funding
Federal officials announced Tuesday they are awarding more money to help states carry out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Seven states that are suing to overturn the landmark law are also on the list for funding.
IU Health reports most serious medical errors
Indiana’s largest and busiest medical system committed 19 preventable errors last year at its hospitals in Indianapolis and other cities, three fewer than in 2009, according to a report released Monday.
Bed sores most common 2010 Indiana medical errors
The state report cited 34 stage three or stage four bed sores after hospital admissions. It also found 33 foreign objects left behind after surgeries.
Drugmakers, pharmacists at odds
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. recently rejected CVS Caremark’s demands for big price discounts on its insulins, leading CVS to kick Lilly’s insulins off its list of recommended drugs.
Brokers get hope on commissions
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners passed a resolution Nov. 22 that urges Congress and the Obama administration to exclude benefits brokers’ commissions from the new requirement that insurers spend only 15 percent to 20 percent of the premiums they collect on administration and profits.
SEC accuses Positron CEO of misleading investors
Regulators allege CEO Patrick G. Rooney diverted millions of dollars from a hedge fund into the struggling Fishers company without investors’ knowledge.
Community to move rehab service to new $23M hospital
Community Health Network plans to move its inpatient rehabilitation facility from its east-side hospital to a new $23 million, 60-bed facility in the Castleton neighborhood.
Health insurers push comparison shopping
Indianapolis-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare say they’re responding to demands from employers, who are desperate to rein in spiraling health benefits costs and have begun embracing the idea that to do so they must change their workers’ approach to health and health care.