Health Insurance

Health care reform bringing changes to Caregivers

July 3, 2010
Scott Olson
Caregivers anticipates coping with declining Medicare reimbursements while having to offer insurance to its employees.
More

Connecticut to probe WellPoint security breach

July 2, 2010
Bloomberg News
Attorney general seeks more details on the breach, which may have compromised financial and health information on almost 500,000 people. He also calls on the Indianapolis-based insurer to provide affected customers with credit monitoring and theft protection services.
More

Braly's political skirmishes hurting insurer, critics say

June 19, 2010
J.K. Wall
When WellPoint Inc. named Angela Braly its CEO three years ago, it touted her experience dealing with politicians and government regulators. But WellPoint is now the poster child for health insurer bad behavior—credited in Washington with reviving a dead health reform bill the company opposed.
More

WellPoint CFO says feds may phase in medical-spending rule

June 16, 2010
Bloomberg News
U.S. regulators may phase in requirements on how much health insurers spend on medical care to avoid pushing plans out of the market for people who buy their own coverage, WellPoint Inc.'s chief financial officer said Wednesday.
More

Effective stats are new hurdle for U.S. drugmakers

May 26, 2010
J.K. Wall
WellPoint Inc.'s announcement of comparative effectiveness research guidelines last week marks a new era for U.S. drugmakers. The Indianapolis-based health insurer will use studies that compare the effectiveness of one drug against another as a complement to typical clinical trial research that compares a drug against a placebo sugar pill.
More

ER doc is affable WellPoint activist

May 19, 2010
J.K. Wall
Dr. Rob Stone wants the giant health insurer to convert to not-for-profit status and put him, an advocate of national health insurance, on the company's board.
More

Buffett bails on WellPoint

May 18, 2010
J.K. Wall
Influential investor sold off all 1.3 million shares in the Indianapolis-based health insurer during the first quarter.
More

WellPoint meeting ends abruptly as Bush collapses

May 18, 2010
J.K. Wall
Board member William "Bucky" Bush, uncle of former President George W. Bush, appeared OK after a shortened meeting in which shareholders approved a "say-on-pay" proposal. Protesters gathered outside WellPoint's headquarters after the meeting.
More

Study: Quality, costs better at big practices

May 12, 2010
J.K. Wall
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.
More

Q&A

May 12, 2010
J.K. Wall
Joe Guzman is a co-founder of Indianapolis-based Ascend USA, the new trade adopted after Guzman merged his benefits brokerage, Benefits Strategies Inc., with benefits business Steven Goodin. The eight-person firm expects to hire as many 15 new employees in the next year. Those workers will help Ascend diversify from health benefits into brokering commercial insurance products.
More

Report: WellPoint, Aetna may need relief from cost mandate

May 11, 2010
Bloomberg News
The U.S. health overhaul’s mandate that insurers spend 80 percent of premiums on medical care may need to be loosened to keep companies from quitting the market for people who buy coverage on their own, state regulators said.
More

WellPoint, others may need relief from law's spending mandate

May 10, 2010
Bloomberg News
The health law passed by Congress in March will force insurers like WellPoint to give rebates to customers next year if the companies don't meet the medical-spending minimums.
More

Braly, Obama spar again over WellPoint cancellation policies

May 10, 2010
J.K. Wall
CEO of Indianapolis-based health insurer wrote to Obama on Sunday to rebut the president's criticism that WellPoint seeks out breast cancer patients to cancel their policies.
More

Anthem Blue Cross withdraws big California rate hike

April 29, 2010
Associated Press
Anthem Blue Cross withdrew plans to raise health insurance rates for Californians by as much as 39 percent after an independent audit determined the company's justification for raising premiums was based on flawed data.
More

Q&A

April 28, 2010
J.K. Wall
Dr. Stanley Adkins is chief medical officer of Indianapolis-based AmeriVeriCR, a startup that uses software to review medical claims for errors. With health care reform and a new, larger set of diagnosis codes phasing in over the next few years, AmeriVeri is betting that demand for its service will increase.
More

WellPoint profits rise, beat analysts' expectations

April 28, 2010
J.K. Wall
The Indianapolis-based health insurer was helped in first quarter by a mild flu season, but it now expects to lose nearly 700,000 customers by year end.
More

WellPoint gets lashing from Sebelius, again

April 26, 2010
J.K. Wall
Indianapolis-based health insurer trades jabs with U.S. health secretary after Reuters story claims insurer deliberately cancels coverage for breast cancer patients.
More

Rockefeller: Insurers don't spend enough on medical care

April 15, 2010
Bloomberg News
Indianapolis-based WellPoint “reclassified” more than half a billion dollars of administrative expenses as medical expenses when it was defining its medical-loss ratio, according to a report released by U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller’s office.
More

Q&A: Jim Parker

April 14, 2010
J.K. Wall
Jim Parker was an executive at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and WellPoint for 14 years, including a year and a half as chief of staff to CEO Angela Braly. He now is president of his own consulting firm, Meridian Strategic Advisors, in Indianapolis. He spoke about the impact of the new health reform law on health insurers.
More

Employers want cake, and to eat it, too

April 13, 2010
J.K. Wall
Employers are still trying to get their arms around what the new health insurance law will mean for them. But on the eve of the law's passage last month, a survey by Indianapolis-based United Benefit Advisors LLC showed employers as a group had no hope the law would reduce their costs but also no coherent plan for reforming the current system.
More

WellPoint, UnitedHealth, grapple with medical-cost mandate

April 13, 2010
Bloomberg News
A U.S. mandate forcing insurers led by UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc. to spend 85 percent of revenue from premiums on medical care is the newest front in the battle between the Obama administration and companies over industry profits.
More

Members: Anthem health plans subpar

April 7, 2010
J.K. Wall
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana fell slightly below average for customer satisfaction among scores of health plans, according to a new survey by California-based J.D. Power & Associates.
More

Shareholder group wants WellPoint to become not-for-profit

April 6, 2010
J.K. Wall
Proposal at annual meeting will ask health insurer to study feasibility of converting to not-for-profit status.
More

WellPoint faces biggest changes under new law

March 31, 2010
J.K. Wall
The Indianapolis-based health insurer has more individual and small-business customers than its major competitors, increasing the impact of health reform.
More

Employers fret over health care overhaul

March 27, 2010
J.K. Wall
Most employers in central Indiana are just beginning to figure out what the health insurance reform bill will mean for their businesses. Caterpillar Inc., which employs nearly 1,500 at an engine plant in Lafayette, expects costs to rise about 20 percent.
More
Page  << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> pager
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT

facebook - twitter on Facebook & Twitter

Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ on Facebook:
Follow on TwitterFollow IBJ's Tweets on these topics:
 
Subscribe to IBJ
ADVERTISEMENT