Company news

Advantage Health Solutions Inc. and Indiana University Health Plans discussed merging back in 2013 as a way to have doctors and hospitals that stretch nearly statewide, just like large insurers such as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare offer, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversations, which broke down. Now that those larger rivals are getting bigger—via Anthem’s $54 billion buyout deal with Cigna Corp., it could put pressure on Advantage, IU Health Plans and other provider-owned health plans. Experts say the deal with Cigna will give Anthem an even greater edge over smaller rivals in negotiating leverage with hospital systems and in resources to invest in consumer-friendly technology and marketing. But the leaders of Indiana’s provider-owned health plans say the future under Obamacare is in their favor, because financial success will hinge on close collaborations between health plans and providers that reward doctors and hospitals for keeping patients healthier—and their medical spending lower. So far, however, Obamacare has been rough on provider-owned health plans. Advantage lost $0.7 million last year, prompting two of its owners—St. Vincent Health and Franciscan Alliance—to each contribute $6 million in cash. IU Health Plans lost $2 million last year.

The Indiana University School of Medicine has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health for $4.5 million grant to create a new Indiana Diabetes Research Center, one of just 16 such centers in the country. The center will be led by Dr. Raghu Mirmira, a professor of pediatric diabetes. Robert V. Considine, a professor of cellular and integrative physiology, will be associate director of the center. IU plans to use the money to expand diabetes and metabolic research programs. Currently there are more than 60 scientists at the IU medical school, IUPUI, IU's Bloomington campus or at Purdue University conducting related research.

More customers than usual are hanging on to their Anthem Inc. health coverage this year, giving a boost to the Indianapolis-based insurer’s second-quarter profits. Anthem reported July 29 that it earned $859.1 million during the three months ended June 30, an increase of 17.5 percent over the same quarter of 2014. Anthem held on to 38.5 million health plan members in the period, just 10,000 fewer than it had at the end of the first quarter. Typically, Anthem sees its health plan membership jump at the beginning of each year and then dwindle slightly as the year goes on. That decrease played out again this year among the individuals and employers Anthem serves, But those losses were offset by growing membership in the Medicaid plans Anthem manages for state governments. Now, Anthem expects its health plan membership to end the year in a range of 38.25 million to 38.45 million—an estimate that is 50,000 higher than the forecast Anthem gave in April.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., the new name of the company created by the $13.4 billion acquisition of Biomet Inc. by Zimmer Holding Inc., reported second-quarter financial results that surpassed Wall Street’s estimates. On Thursday, the Warsaw-based company recorded a loss of $158 million during the three months ended June 30, due to special charges from the merger. But excluding those and other extraordinary items, Zimmer Biomet met would have earned nearly $279 million in the quarter, a 2.8 percent increase over the same quarter the previous year. On that adjusted basis, earnings per share totaled $1.59, far higher than the average analyst prediction of $1.56, according to the Associated Press. Zimmer Biomet’s revenue fell 1.3 percent in the quarter to nearly $1.2 billion. But excluding the impact of fluctuating currency exchange rates, Zimmer Biomet’s revenue would have grown by 5.7 percent over the past year.