WellPoint competitor Cigna buying HealthSpring
Cigna Corp. will buy fellow health insurer HealthSpring Inc. in a $3.8 billion deal as it becomes the latest managed care company to snap up a bigger share of the fast-growing Medicare Advantage market.
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Insurance mandate lacks teeth, WellPoint CFO says
As constitutional challenges to the health reform law’s mandate to buy insurance advance, WellPoint Inc.’s chief financial officer reiterated that the company does not object to the mandate, just to its lack of penalties.
State signs sponsor for road-side assistance program
State Farm Insurance will pay $1.25 million over the next three years to sponsor the Hoosier Helper program.
Deficit committee could bite CNO
Medicare supplement policies are reportedly one of the targets of Congress’ special deficit-reduction committee—and that’s not good news for Carmel-based CNO Financial Group Inc.
IU workers to see spike in health insurance costs
An IU official said premiums continue to rise and the university can't continue matching the amount of the increase.
Private exchange could boost WellPoint profits
WellPoint Inc.’s participation in buying a majority stake of the private health insurance exchange operator Bloom Health could help it get back to its roots as a health insurer—and make a bit more money in the process.
WellPoint expands share buyback plan by $5 billion
The insurer said it will use the authorization over several years as market and industry conditions dictate.
Feds: Proposed Indiana Medicaid expansion premature
Federal officials on Friday denied Indiana's request to use a state public health savings account to help cover the half-million people who will become eligible for Medicaid in 2014, saying the request was premature and leaving the state program's future in flux.
Indiana unemployment insurance overhaul continues
Workers taking voluntary buyouts will no longer be eligible for state unemployment benefits in Indiana beginning Saturday, and severance pay will be counted against unemployment payouts.
PANEL: Reforms to rapidly reshape health care
Reform-induced changes dominate health care panel of health care experts convened by Indianapolis Business Journal.
Medical supplier Hill-Rom makes $42M fraud settlement
Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., a medical-equipment company based in Indiana, agreed Tuesday to pay nearly $42 million to settle a government lawsuit. The government had accused the company of knowingly submitting false claims to Medicare from 1999 to 2007.
Judge stays decision in WellPoint policyholder case
Former policyholders of WellPoint Inc., who won a right to a class-action trial over their claims that they were shortchanged when the company went public a decade ago, will have to put their trial plans on hold.
WellPoint buying private health insurance exchange
The deal helps WellPoint compete for employers with the U.S. state-run marketplaces set to open in 2014 under President Obama’s health-care overhaul.
Survey: Workers’ health care costs rose in high single digits
Benefit consultant Nyhart says the typical Hoosier is paying $105 per month for single coverage and $417 per month for family coverage.
Study spoils common wisdom on health spending
The Thomson Reuters study that showed Anderson as the highest-spending health care market in the nation also concluded that treatment and spending vary widely from one locale to another with no clear reason based on demographics or health outcomes.
WellPoint spent $1.3M on federal lobbying in 2nd quarter
WellPoint lobbied on issues tied to the overhaul's implementation and regulations for accountable care organizations, which are networks of hospitals, doctors, rehabilitation centers and other providers that coordinate a patient's care.
Economy still tough, but a few Hoosier industries on upswing
Two years into the economic recovery, bright spots in the Indiana job market are still hard to find. The insurance industry is one of the few glimmers of light on Indiana’s horizon. Others include engine makers, nursing homes and temp agencies.
Anthem not quite so dominant
Revised Insurance Department data show the Indianapolis-based carrier claims about 60 percent of the individual health insurance market in Indiana, down from a previously reported 65 percent.
Five individual insurers leaving Indiana
Hartford-based Aetna Inc. and Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp., the nation’s third- and fifth-largest health insurers respectively, have announced their departure from Indiana’s individual health insurance market.
Mother Nature again slams insurer Baldwin & Lyons
Catastrophic tornadoes in Alabama and Missouri took their toll on second quarter results for Indianapolis-based insurer Baldwin & Lyons Inc.