Spiking drug prices punch holes in health insurers’ finances
Spending on prescription drugs has soared 451 percent this year at Indianapolis-based MDwise as new drugs for hepatitis C and cancer soar above $100,000 per patient.
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Obamacare pumping more than $2B into Hoosier health insurers
A flood of money from Obamacare—for the expanded Healthy Indiana Plan and for private health insurance purchased on the federal exchange—is boosting revenue and profit among Indiana health insurers.
Obamacare, HIP 2.0 goosing hospital profits—for now
More paying customers helped Community Health Network pull in $47 million in second-quarter profits, a story being repeated at not-for-profit hospitals around the country as Obamacare has boosted the number of insured customers to unprecedented highs.
UPDATE: Why insurance mega-mergers won’t launch wave of hospital hook-ups
Profits at most county-owned hospitals have grown by 100 percent to 400 percent over the past four years via partnerships with nursing homes that have brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in extra federal money.
After revenue rebounds, Hoosier hospitals start hiring again
Hospitals around Indiana have added 2,400 jobs since September as profits, patient visits and insurance coverage all improved.
Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling is a win for Republicans—they just can’t see it
For at least 20 years, Republicans have been pushing for giving tax credits to help individuals buy health insurance. The Supreme Court’s latest Obamacare ruling does Republicans the favor of preserving them.
Buying Cigna would give 60 percent of Hoosier health insurance market to Anthem
If Anthem merged with Cigna Corp. it would create a behemoth with even greater negotiating power, which could benefit employers but hurt doctors and hospitals.
If Supremes gut Obamacare’s tax credits, the fixes are easy. But the politics are hard.
The Obama administration could write a new regulation. Congress could pass a short law. States could run a low-cost exchange. But the politics might require all parties to let the tax credits die while they try to pin the blame on the other side.
State readies $2M ad campaign to show off HIP replacement
The new version of the Healthy Indiana Plan, backed by Obamacare funding, has enrolled 229,000 new participants in four months without breaking stride.
Why Anthem could spend $34 billion to buy health insurer Humana
Wall Street analysts say a purchase of Louisville-based Humana Inc., which reportedly has put itself up for sale, would by Indianapolis-based Anthem. An Anthem-Humana marriage would be the biggest merger in the history of U.S. health insurance.
How Indy’s hospitals kept chugging through that terrible year of 2013
The individual hospital campuses around Indianapolis saw their collective revenue rise 8 percent and their collective operating profits rise 22 percent from from 2011 to 2013. That’s solid, just not stellar, growth.
Health insurers press gas on value-based payments
In Indiana, Anthem has struck accountable care organization deals with 14 health care provider groups and signed up nearly 2,900 primary care providers to its medical home program. And it’s pushing for more in the future.
The price we pay for diabetes
For employer health plans, diabetics generate $10,000 more per year in medical bills than non-diabetics. That means the rise in the prevalence of diabetes over the past 25 years is costing Hoosiers an extra $2.6 billion annually.
Paying for low value
A recent ranking of health care value in all 50 states puts Indiana in the basement. By my rough figures, working-age Hoosiers are paying a couple billions dollars extra for their health care.
Financially fit IU Health still hoarding cash for fear of change
IU Health had one of its most profitable years ever in 2014, as it cut staff, boosted its physician office visits and improved bill collections. But it is still hoarding cash to be ready for future cuts in reimbursement as well as future building projects.
Semper Reformanda
Think we’re almost done with changes from Obamacare? Think again. Things won’t settle down any sooner than 2017, and they could actually get even wilder after that.
Hoosiers shopped around before picking Obamacare exchange coverage
One-third of Indiana’s buyers on Obamacare exchanges were new to their health plans this year—tying Indiana for sixth among the 37 states using the federal exchange.
Babies, business and the bottom line
For years, employers have focused on preventing huge health bills that can result from their older workers. But now Leonard Hoops, the CEO of Visit Indy, is trying to get employers to focus on the costs of the youngest members of their health plans: premature babies.
Nursing homes in Indiana have more money than ever
Through partnerships with county-owned hospitals, Indiana’s nursing homes pulled in about $260 million last year in extra federal funds. That means participating nursing homes enjoyed a 10 percent bonus check.
Carmel business owner ordered to repay $720K for Medicaid fraud
A central Indiana woman who owned two businesses has been ordered to spend three years on probation and repay all of the money she unlawfully received in Medicaid payments.