Articles

Q&A

As an Eli Lilly and Co. lobbyist in Washington, D.C., Jay Bonitt is hoping the Congressional “super committee” charged with trimming the federal budget doesn’t turn to the Medicare prescription drug program, known as Part D, to do so. Bonitt, Lilly's vice president of federal affairs, said the program is under budget and helps spur drugmakers to further innovation.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Feds support Planned Parenthood in defunding case

The U.S. Justice Department entered the court battle over a tough new Indiana abortion law that disqualifies Planned Parenthood of Indiana from the Medicaid program, siding with the organization in its request Thursday for a court order blocking the statute as unconstitutional.

Read More

WellPoint pays big to tap fast-growing Medicare market

Analysts raised their eyebrows at the $800 million reportedly paid by WellPoint Inc. to acquire a West Coast Medicare plan, but with the commercial health insurance business stagnating, Medicare is vital to WellPoint’s future growth.

Read More

WellPoint paying almost $800M for CareMore

Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. agreed to acquire CareMore Health Group to expand Medicare coverage in California, Arizona and Nevada. The insurer paid almost $800 million, according to people familiar with the deal.

Read More

Fee could feed $100M to hospitals

Indiana hospitals could pull in more than $100 million a year from the federal government under a new assessment fee included in the state’s 2011 budget bill.

Read More

Study: Indianapolis high-priced hospital market

Indianapolis-area hospitals have negotiated reimbursement rates with private health insurers that are two and three times higher than those paid by the federal Medicare program, suggesting the hospitals have the upper hand over insurers, according to a new study.

Read More

Drugmakers’ ‘doughnut hole’ deal to shave sales

Drugmakers including Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Eli Lilly and Co. may provide more than $2 billion in drug discounts to senior citizens next year under a deal pharmaceutical companies made with the White House.

Read More

WellPoint gets $87M Medicare contract renewal

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.

Read More