The company said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services renewed its durable medical equipment administrative contract for a region that covers Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Indiana is talking to federal officials about expanding its health plan for low-income adults, despite Gov. Mitch Daniels'
statements that the federal health care overhaul would kill it.
Medicaid Director Pat Casanova says the money will be used for necessary state steps to create an incentive program for medical
providers and hospitals to move from paper records to electronic ones.
Indiana and other states face a struggle as they grapple with putting the health care changes into place in a relatively short
span of time while they also contend with the economic downtown and strained state budgets.
Caregivers anticipates coping with declining Medicare reimbursements while having to offer insurance to its employees.
Physician offices will begin receiving payments from the Medicare that are 21.3-percent below
what they’ve been getting so far this year. Doctors still expect Congress to reverse the payment cuts, but physicians
and the Medicare program will have to reprocess claims, costing both extra money.
Locally based SynCare LLC has withdrawn a request for a property tax abatement tied to the creation of 114 jobs. SynCare owner
Stephanie DeKemper said she pulled the request to ensure the employment projections are accurate.
SynCare LLC’s expansion hinges on city approval of property tax abatement. The Metropolitan Development Commission is set
to vote on the request Wednesday.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said the costs to Indiana for health reform will be so great that
the state should consider the drastic step of creating another option to Medicaid.
As physician mergers increase in Indianapolis, a new study has determined that quality at large, multispecialty practices is at
least 5 percent higher and costs are 3.6 percent lower than at small group practices.
The new federal health care bill will put 500,000 more Indiana residents on Medicaid and lead to higher state taxes, Gov.
Mitch Daniels said Monday, but a government insurance proponent said it will help families and businesses.
Sweeping changes phase in slowly for most, but insurers, hospitals, drug companies, employers, workers, medical device makers
and more will eventually feel impact.
Drugmakers and insurers could gain millions of customers under the legislation, but the industry also will pay new fees and
face stricter rules that may shrink profit and fuel mergers.
To pay for the changes, the legislation includes more than $400 billion in higher taxes over a decade, roughly half of it
from a new Medicare payroll tax on individuals with incomes over $200,000 and couples over $250,000.
Insurers WellPoint Inc. and others would get a delay in taxes on premiums and high-cost medical benefits, along with additional
funding for expanding Medicaid, under a White House proposal
Obama, seeking to break an impasse over health-care legislation, proposes a plan that includes the first Medicare tax on unearned
income such as capital gains and higher fees on drugmakers.
Stephanie DeKemper believes everything in her adult life has prepared her to run SynCare LLC. She’s so
sure that she’s buying the company.
State lawmakers say a proposed bill would help people get quicker access to in-home care that most seniors
prefer to nursing homes.
The service will launch in February. Its goal is to serve 15 clients by June 30, 2010.
An actuarial report prepared by the local office of Milliman Inc., a Seattle-based consulting firm, projects
that the state of Indiana would have to hike its Medicaid payments by one-third in order to entice more
doctors into the program.
