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.
Health Insurance
Articles
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.
New WellPoint CEO Joe Swedish thrives on complexity
Joe Swedish, a career hospital executive, is now two months into his job at the helm of Indianapolis-based WellPoint, the nation’s second-largest health insurer. In his first interview since starting work, Swedish indicated he’s taking his time to learn the people and the culture of the vast organization he now leads.
Study rebuts hospitals’ argument on Medicare, rising costs
Rather than raising prices on private health insurers to make up for inadequate payments from the government, hospitals across the country have been raising prices just because they can, according to a new study.
IU Health to chop $1 billion off costs
Even though Obamacare likely will expand health insurance coverage to an extra 500,000 Hoosiers over the next few years, IU Health expects per-patient reimbursements to fall as the federal government, employers and patients all push back on sky-high health care costs.
Indiana’s health care transparency laws get failing grade
Indiana’s laws requiring hospitals to release price information are woefully inadequate, according to a report by two health insurance reform groups. Indiana was among 29 states to receive an "F" grade.
Crunching the numbers on Obamacare
The biggest changes from President Obama’s 2010 health reform law take effect nine months from now, so many Hoosier employers have started crunching detailed numbers to cost out their options.
Study: Indiana individual health-claim costs to rise
A study by the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts shows the biggest driver of health insurance premiums will rise by more than 67 percent for Indiana residents' individual policies under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Insurers may prove choosy with overhaul exchanges
The leader of the nation's largest health insurer warned Thursday not to assume widespread participation from his company in part of health care overhaul's coverage expansion that unfolds later this year.
Health insurance changes daunting for Indiana employers
A portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requiring companies in 2014 to begin offering health insurance to more workers is causing a lot of anxiety.
Amerigroup chief emerges as a frontrunner for WellPoint job
WellPoint Inc. is still considering former Amerigroup Corp. CEO James Carlson among several finalists to become CEO. Statements and filings this month have fueled speculation among analysts and shareholders that Carlson has vaulted ahead of other prospects.
Anthem pulling out of Quality Health First
Since 2009, Indianapolis-based Anthem has doled out $14.5 million in bonuses to physicians based on their scores in quality reports generated by Quality Health First.
Fiscal cliff deal threatens Indiana co-op health plan
Last week’s fiscal cliff bargain in Congress dealt a potentially fatal blow to a new health insurance plan, called Remedy Indiana, that was set to launch this year.
State expects to extend Healthy Indiana Plan a year
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed to a waiver that would allow the state to continue the program unchanged for a year.
About 1 in 10 firms plans to drop coverage
Even as the rising cost of medical benefits has moderated, 11 percent of Indiana employers with 10 or more workers say they will terminate their medical coverage within the next five years, according to the latest survey from the benefits consulting firm Mercer.
Anthem rolling out 401(k)-style medical benefits
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana will open a new online exchange to Indiana employers on Jan. 1, where workers could purchase medical benefits from a group of plans using a fixed sum of money given them by their employers.
Medicaid expansion could cost $54M a year
A new set of projections released Monday estimates that expanding Medicaid coverage as called for in President Obama’s 2010 health reform law would cost the state government less than $54 million per year on average over the next decade—far lower than projections issued by the actuarial firm hired by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration.
Indiana employers desperate to improve workers’ personal habits
Skyrocketing health care costs prompt search for new ways to improve lifestyle choices.
Analyst: WellPoint CEO search down to two
According to one Wall Street analyst, the search for a new CEO for Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint Inc. is down to two candidates: former Aetna Inc. CEO Ron Williams and Amerigroup Corp. CEO Jim Carlson.
Small biz exposure clouds WellPoint’s future
WellPoint’s average small-employer client has just 8.5 lives covered on its health plan. And firms of that size are far more likely to use the new health insurance exchanges, said WellPoint Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt.