Health care reform will add roughly 500,000 Hoosiers to the Medicaid program and, in spite of great criticism of that expansion, a new study suggests Medicaid coverage does help consumers get more care, have fewer unpaid bills and feel better.
The fact is that hospitals are paid three to four times for physician ancillary services.
Companies that drop insurance coverage could, without spending any more money than they are now, give workers an 11-percent raise or else help them save as much as $2,000 per year buying health coverage in one of the exchanges, IBJ calculations show.
WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health insurer based on membership, spent about $1.5 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter, as the health care overhaul debuted a new restriction that concerned managed care companies.
Only 19 of the 63 companies writing individual health insurance policies in Indiana have been meeting the new 80-percent medical-loss threshold of the health care reform law, potentially triggering a refund for customers.
U.S. insurers led by WellPoint Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. failed to get federal regulators to change a rule in the 2010 health-care overhaul that triggers a review of any premium increases exceeding 10 percent.
The problem is, too many people make unhealthy choices and the consequences of these choices become everyone’s problem.
Health reform could accelerate trend toward two tiers of care, with concierge services like Dr. Matt Priddy offers at the top and long waits and minimal attention at the bottom.
The ultimate test of whether buybacks are good deals for shareholders hinges on whether the price paid for the stock proves over time to have been a bargain or inflated.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s vision for accountable care organizations foresees doctors and hospitals shifting to global capitation payments and employers getting bigger discounts if they allow their workers access only to health care providers in a specific organization.
Susan Rider is an employee-benefits account manager at Indianapolis-based Gregory & Appel Insurance. On July 1, she will become president of the Indiana State Association of Health Underwriters. She spoke about the first-year impact of the 2010 health reform law and further changes to come.
Health reform will make health insurance a less-profitable business, but WellPoint Inc. got a vote of confidence from bond analysts because health-reform rules have turned out milder than expected and WellPoint’s financial performance has been particularly strong as the economy recovers.
Premiums for private health insurers in China are expected to rise to $90 billion by 2020 from $9 billion now, and WellPoint Inc. is angling for a big piece of that pie.
In the face of new health reform restrictions, expect more small employers to opt for self-funded health benefits, concludes a report this week from Indianapolis-based United Benefit Advisors.
Indiana University Health is the latest system to drill employees ranging from clerks to physicians in how to treat patients.
Think galloping health insurance costs are a problem unique to American employers? Think again. Medical costs paid by employer-focused health insurers rose by an average of 10 percent last year—identical to the United States.
WellPoint Inc. has already more than doubled the enrollment gains it expected in 2011 for national accounts that the health insurer administers for large employers.
Over the next five years, WellPoint Inc. expects the employer-sponsored insurance business to shrink slightly, forcing it to shift its focus to government-sponsored plans.
The president of the Indiana Primary Health Care Association wants to double the number of federally qualified community health centers in Indiana in the next five years.
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.
