Health insurers expect hit from reform rule
Major health insurers, including WellPoint, say a provision that requires them to spend a certain percentage of the premiums they collect on care-related costs will eat into earnings this year.
Health Care Reform
Articles
Daniels leads guvs’ health-care revolt
Boy does Gov. Mitch Daniels have an ultimatum for President Obama: Wave off the health reform law or else I’ll do nothing to help while it wreaks havoc on Hoosier citizens.
Health insurance brokers set for shakeout
Health insurance brokers, who match up employers with health insurance policies, are about to have a brighter light shone on the commissions they earn from insurers. The likely result: Commissions will fall or flatline and, eventually, fall away in favor of fee-based business models.
Judge’s ruling raises uncertainty for health care execs
After a federal judge in Florida struck down the entire health reform law, investors shrugged. But the uncertainty for executives in health care companies increased.
Florida judge strikes down health care overhaul
A federal judge ruled Monday that the Obama administration's health care overhaul is unconstitutional, siding with 26 states, including Indiana, that sued to block it.
Execs from WellPoint, peers meet to hone health-law lobby
Top executives from WellPoint Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. are meeting almost monthly with their counterparts from Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp. and Humana Inc. in an informal lobbying alliance aimed at blunting parts of the health-care law, say sources with knowledge of the sessions.
Indiana Health Information Exchange hires new CEO
Harold Apple takes over for J. Marc Overhage, who will remain with the organization as its chief strategic officer and national policy adviser. IHIE is one of four operational exchanges in Indiana that allows for the sharing of medical records electronically.
Q&A
Chris Sears is a health care and employee-benefits attorney at Ice Miller LLP in Indianapolis. He spoke about how employers are sizing up health insurance reforms that hit in 2014, which would set up government-subsidized insurance as a new option for workers but also would penalize most employers if they stop sponsoring employee health benefits.
LAMKIN: Health care reform is opportunity to reorganize services
Indiana should take advantage of the opportunity to build a comprehensive exchange.
Q&A: Derek Bang
Derek Bang, practice leader of health care advisory services at the Crowe Horwath accounting firm in Indianapolis, spent a week in March studying health care in the United Kingdom, especially its universal health care program. He was surprised by the “daily barrage of criticism” he heard about the National Health Service, but also found that the United Kingdom and United States face very similar issues when it comes to constraining growth in health care costs.
Lilly bumped up federal lobbying in third quarter
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker spent $2.1 million in the three months that ended Sept. 30, a 5-percent increase from the same quarter last year and a jump of more than 30 percent from the $1.6 million it spent in this year's second quarter.
WellPoint helps usher in health care reform
President Obama revived the health care reform bill by seizing on news of sharp premium hikes on individual customers by Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.
Clarian, Morgan clear way for merger
The merger of Morgan Hospital & Medical Center into Clarian Health got the go-ahead from all parties in the past week, opening the way for Morgan to bring on new doctors to its facilities.
WellPoint’s New York rate hike to face scrutiny
WellPoint Inc. and other U.S. health insurers will have to provide justification for any increases to customers’ premiums of more than 10 percent next year, according to federal regulations published Tuesday.
WellPoint spent $1.1M lobbying feds in third quarter
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. spent $1.1 million lobbying the federal government in the third quarter, as it focused on several issues tied to the health care overhaul Congress passed in March.
Health insurance investors unfazed by court ruling
This week’s ruling by a federal judge could force Congress to rework the new health law to avoid a health insurance market collapse. But the decision had little to no effect on investor sentiment toward WellPoint Inc. and its peers.
Clarian Health looks to scoop up White County hospital
The Indianapolis-based hospital system’s board of directors could vote to acquire the 25-bed hospital as early as next week, but might put off a decision till February.
Law affects hospitals with doctor-held debt
Health care reform put strict limits on physician-owned hospitals, but it seems the law also restricts hospitals that have physician-owned debt.
Swing in governors could help WellPoint deal with reform
Rick Scott of Florida will get another chance next month to derail the law President Obama signed in March when he and 21 other Republican governors-elect are sworn in just as states begin implementing details of the legislation the candidates campaigned against.
St. Francis-WellPoint deal is a sign of the times
St. Francis, which operates three Indianapolis-area hospitals, and WellPoint, the giant health insurer, announced this month that they have agreed to jointly form an accountable care organization.