May 13, 2013
Rather than raising prices on private health insurers to make up for inadequate payments from the government, hospitals across
the country have been raising prices just because they can, according to a new study.
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April 6, 2013
J.K. WallEven though Obamacare likely will expand health insurance coverage to an extra 500,000 Hoosiers over the next few years, IU
Health expects per-patient reimbursements to fall as the federal government, employers and patients all push back on sky-high
health care costs.
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April 1, 2013
J.K. WallIndiana’s laws requiring hospitals to release price information are woefully inadequate, according to a report by two
health insurance reform groups. Indiana was among 29 states to receive an "F" grade.
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March 30, 2013
J.K. WallThe biggest changes from President Obama’s 2010 health reform law take effect nine months from now, so many Hoosier
employers have started crunching detailed numbers to cost out their options.
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March 26, 2013
Associated PressA study by the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts shows the biggest driver of health insurance premiums
will rise by more than 67 percent for Indiana residents' individual policies under President Barack Obama's health
care overhaul.
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January 19, 2013
Scott OlsonA portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requiring companies in 2014 to begin offering health insurance
to more workers is causing a lot of anxiety.
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January 17, 2013
Associated PressThe leader of the nation's largest health insurer warned Thursday not to assume widespread participation from his company
in part of health care overhaul's coverage expansion that unfolds later this year.
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January 15, 2013
Bloomberg NewsWellPoint Inc. is still considering former Amerigroup Corp. CEO James Carlson among several finalists to become CEO. Statements
and filings this month have fueled speculation among analysts and shareholders that Carlson has vaulted ahead of other prospects.
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January 14, 2013
J.K. WallSince 2009, Indianapolis-based Anthem has doled out $14.5 million in bonuses to physicians based on their scores in quality
reports generated by Quality Health First.
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January 7, 2013
J.K. WallLast week’s fiscal cliff bargain in Congress dealt a potentially fatal blow to a new health insurance plan, called Remedy
Indiana, that was set to launch this year.
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December 14, 2012
Associated PressThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed to a waiver that would allow the state to continue the program unchanged
for a year.
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December 3, 2012
J.K. WallEven as the rising cost of medical benefits has moderated, 11 percent of Indiana employers with 10 or more workers say they
will terminate their medical coverage within the next five years, according to the latest survey from the benefits consulting
firm Mercer.
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December 1, 2012
J.K. WallAnthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana will open a new online exchange to Indiana employers on Jan. 1, where workers
could purchase medical benefits from a group of plans using a fixed sum of money given them by their employers.
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November 26, 2012
J.K. Wall
A new set of projections released Monday estimates that expanding Medicaid coverage as called for in President Obama’s
2010 health reform law would cost the state government less than $54 million per year on average over the next decade—far
lower than projections issued by the actuarial firm hired by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration.
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November 24, 2012
J.K. WallSkyrocketing health care costs prompt search for new ways to improve lifestyle choices.
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November 19, 2012
J.K. WallAccording to one Wall Street analyst, the search for a new CEO for Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint Inc. is down
to two candidates: former Aetna Inc. CEO Ron Williams and Amerigroup Corp. CEO Jim Carlson.
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November 12, 2012
J.K. WallWellPoint’s average small-employer client has just 8.5 lives covered on its health plan. And firms of that size are
far more likely to use the new health insurance exchanges, said WellPoint Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt.
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November 5, 2012
J.K. WallA new agreement in Wisconsin provides a glimpse of the kind of “narrow network” arrangements that Indianapolis-based
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield might attempt in Indiana.
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November 3, 2012
J.K. WallMany Indiana Republicans want to use the Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in Indiana to more low-income adults.
But the program—which offers health insurance based on health savings accounts to uninsured adults—has managed
to attract just one-third of the Hoosiers it was designed for and has cost about twice as much per enrollee as predicted.
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October 11, 2012
Bloomberg NewsSeparate Medicare and Medicaid divisions each will sell plans for those government-backed insurance programs. Another will
handle commercial and individual business, and a specialty unit will provide dental, vision and disability coverage.
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October 8, 2012
J.K. WallNew health insurance coverage created by the 2010 health reform law will attract a lower-income, less-educated and more diverse
set of customers than the insurance markets that exist today, according to a new analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers. And that
could create challenges for doctors and hospitals trying to care for those patients.
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October 1, 2012
J.K. WallIt would be “absurd” and a “travesty” for Indiana not to expand its Medicaid program, according to
two local hospital officials. And yet other health care leaders do not expect expanded Medicaid coverage to provide nearly
as much help to uninsured Hoosiers as hoped.
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September 29, 2012
J.K. WallWhile WellPoint Inc. and its predecessors have a history of grooming new CEOs in-house, the next leader of the health insurance
giant is likely to be an outsider, according to interviews with more than a half dozen former directors and officers of the
company.
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September 24, 2012
J.K. WallIf Indiana expands its Medicaid program as called for under President Obama’s health reform law, it likely will hike
state spending on the program an extra 13.5 percent—or $516 million annually—by 2020, according to the latest
projections from Seattle-based actuarial firm Milliman Inc.
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September 17, 2012
J.K. WallThe Indianapolis-based health insurer expects the purchase of health insurance to look and feel much more like online retailing
than ever before, where brand name, along with price and convenience, win the day.
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Can IBJ please stop referring to this property as "Kessler Mansion"? What a ridiculous title for the biggest, bloated, blight in our city. It's not a mansion. At best, it's an ideal site to shoot low-budget porn. Ahhh! Another business use!
Its stories like these that prove that a Ball State diploma is worth less than the paper that its printed on. A real institution of higher learning would have taken care of this long ago. No way should this crap be taught in a SCIENCE class.
It is such a shame that King Ballard has made Indianapolis into Chicago south with all of the rampant corruption.
How many of these 1,259 bills were actually heard and voted on on the floor vs how many were shot down in committee?
When a an arrogant young guy with essentially no experience and no qualifications for the job, was dropped into an Administrator position out of nowhere by his "mentor" in the Mayor's office things seemed fishy. Sometimes things are what they seem.