Longtime insurance agency acquired by local rival
Property-casualty and employee benefits firm MJ Insurance buys Mead & Co., which dates to the 1860s.
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Wellpoint raises $1.35B in first convertible offering since ’99
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. sold its first convertible securities in more than 13 years with a $1.35 billion offering of 30-year bonds.
Amerigroup delays vote on $4.9B WellPoint acquisition
Amerigroup Corp. officials agreed to delay a shareholder vote on WellPoint Inc.’s $4.9 billion buyout offer to resolve investors’ claims they were being shortchanged in the deal, the company said in a securities filing.
WellPoint to add 100-plus local jobs for new Medicare contract
WellPoint Inc.’s National Government Services unit will add more than 100 jobs in Indianapolis beginning late this year or early next after the health insurance giant won a new contract with the federal Medicare program.
Appeals court strikes down Indiana’s Medicaid dental cap
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a preliminary injunction that blocked the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration from enforcing a $1,000 annual limit on dental coverage. The agency had established it as a cost-cutting measure in 2011.
Some hospitals, doctors might be cut from health plans
With health insurance premiums continuing to outstrip inflation, some health insurers and hospital systems are considering bringing back an old strategy: limiting patient access to a “narrow” network of doctors and hospitals.
WellPoint hires Chicago-based search firm to find CEO
Chicago-based recruiting firm Spencer Stuart & Associates Ltd. has previously led executive and board director hunts for companies including Facebook Inc., Comcast Corp., Talbots Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
WellPoint says CEO search to take three to six months
WellPoint is seeking a replacement for former CEO Angela Braly, who stepped down Aug. 28 amid shareholder discontent. The company plans to hire a search firm within the next week.
OneAmerica unit using hybrid policies to grow long-term-care sales
Using banks as a sales channel also boosts business in what has been a languishing product segment.
High-deductible premiums rising, too
Since 2007, premiums for high-deductible health plans’ family coverage have grown 32 percent—compared with 30 percent among all health plans, according to survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Crop insurance losses begin to mount amid drought
Thousands of farmers are filing insurance claims this year after drought and triple-digit temperatures burned up crops across the nation's Corn Belt, and some experts are predicting record insurance losses — exacerbated by changes that reduced some growers' premiums.
Average premiums for employee health plans rise 4 percent
Annual premiums for job-based family health insurance went up just 4 percent on average this year, but that's no comfort with the price tag approaching $16,000 and rising more than twice as fast as wages.
WellPoint management team gets board support, CFO says
Almost two weeks after Angela Braly was forced out as WellPoint Inc. CEO, the management team she put in place has been told by the board it will stay, said Chief Financial Officer Wayne Deveydt.
Bloomington docs still feuding with Anthem
A large physician practice in Bloomington remains at an impasse with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana less than two months before their contract is set to expire.
‘Knock on Wood’ campaign boosts Farm Bureau brand
The torrent of competitors’ humorous TV commercials forced Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance to roll out its own campaign. So far, its “Knock on Wood” shtick is said to have boosted brand awareness in urban markets by 12 percent, as measured by social media chatter.
WellPoint plans debt offerings to fund Amerigroup acquisition
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., the second-biggest U.S. health insurer, is planning a four-part debt offering to help fund its $4.9 billion acquisition of Amerigroup Corp, the insurer said Wednesday.
CNO stock hits 4-year high on recapitalization strategy
Carmel-based insurer CNO Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday that it is seeking $950 million of loans and bonds to repay debt and reduce borrowing costs.
Departing CEO Braly due to get $15M exit package
WellPoint Inc. is expected to give about $15 million in cash, stock and benefits to former CEO Angela Braly on her way out the door, based on the terms of a separation agreement filed by the company Wednesday morning. And the payout could be even more lucrative based on the company’s future stock price.
WellPoint launches search for new CEO after Braly resignation
Investors are looking for a CEO who can right the Indianapolis-based company’s financial performance and integrate WellPoint’s recent deals to buy Medicaid insurer Amerigroup Corp. and vision company 1-800-Contacts Inc.
Braly’s departure occurred sooner than many expected
Even though CEO Angela Braly was facing withering criticism, analysts thought WellPoint would be reluctant to change CEOs while its $4.9 billion acquisition of Amerigroup Corp. was pending.