Eli Lilly and Co. has picked an insurer it knows extremely well to cover future problems in the high-stakes world of product liability litigation–itself. The Indianapolis drugmaker opted for self-insurance after struggling to find coverage in what it terms a “very restrictive insurance market.”
Bruce Hetrick is on vacation this week. In his absence, this column, which appeared on Aug.19, 2002, is being reprinted. Dear Reader: In our nation’s capital, at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and North Capitol Street, the Smithsonian Institution has converted a former post office into the National Postal Museum. Carved into the white granite wall is an inscription called “The Letter.” Written by former Harvard University President Charles W. Eliot and edited by former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, it…
Gateway Medical Resource Alliance, a niche health care benefits company, will shut down Aug. 30, more than a month after losing the lone Indianapolis hospital in its network. The company, which has shrunk to six workers, provides employers discounts for certain cardiology, orthopedics and oncology care. In return for fees from the employers, Gateway offers flat, all-inclusive prices for procedures. It also offers prescription and wellness services. CEO Terry Kopp said he still hopes to find another hospital to resuscitate…
Property and casualty insurers are taking a financial beating over the spring hailstorm that pounded homes and vehicles in central Indiana. Damage from the Good Friday deluge resulted in a flood of Hoosier insurance claims: 177,000 so far totaling $560 million, making it one of the costliest weather catastrophes in state history, according to the New Jerseybased Insurance Services Office. Overall, Indiana topped the nation in the total amount of insured losses-$658.5 million-during the second quarter, according to the ISO….
A benefits package WellPoint Inc. unveiled in July includes an ambitious effort that enables its 34 million members to access their medical records online. WellPoint’s initiative to make the records available electronically is but one example of a national movement, backed by President Bush, to make all medical records available online within the next 10 years. Advocates say online systems can reduce medical errors and avoid unnecessary procedures by making patients’ medical needs and histories available to doctors instantaneously. Indianapolis-based…
Republic Airways Holdings plans to add more than 1,000 jobs, including some at its Indianapolis headquarters, thanks to a deal to fly larger aircraft for US Airways and its first contract to fly for Continental Airlines.
Those of us who spend a lot of time in airports get an effective education in the economics of competition by observing-and paying-the fares charged by airlines. It’s really quite simple. Fly a route served by several airlines, especially if one of them is a low-cost, no-frills carrier such as Southwest, and fares will be reasonably low. But if you are unlucky enough to fly to or from a smaller city, or even a large one where a single carrier…
Black business owner Bob Logan is one of four entrepreneurs chosen by the Indiana Business Diversity Council as inaugural tenants of its unusual new incubator, which caters solely to minority-owned businesses.
As students at Warren Central High School just a few years ago, Michael Slate and David Hosei used to dream about becoming entrepreneurs. They started like many of them: cutting grass and selling candy door-to-door. Today, they rub elbows with West Coast venture capitalists. In April, the pair announced that Silicon Valley-based VantagePoint Venture Partners had invested in their Internet startup 3GUpload, a Web portal for the exchange of cell phone ring tones. Founded in a Purdue University dorm room…
The “hot spots” that drive wirelessfidelity access-better known as WiFi-might be in for a cool-down. WiFi enables Internet users to log on without a wire connection, as long as they are in a hot-spot area. The sites have become so common that the number worldwide surpassed the 100,000 mark earlier this year, according to JiWire, a Web-based hotspot information provider. Thousands of businesses, universities and municipalities have invested in the technology. But wireless phone companies are challenging the technology with…
In late April, Brightpoint Inc. investors had every reason to feel giddy. Shares of the wireless phone wholesaler were up 85 percent for the year, after advancing 113 percent in 2005. Today, those heady days seem like a distant memory. Since reaching a high of $28.50 April 27, Brightpoint’s shares have lost 50 percent of their value, lopping more than $700 million off the company’s market value. “Clearly, wireless is out of favor on Wall Street and has been for…
Amid the steady rumble of diesel engines, Ricky Smith parks his 18-wheeler among a raft of big rigs at the TA Travel Center in Boone County to relax and grab a bite to eat. It’s after 6 p.m., and the Tennessee resident is delivering grocery products on his weekly route that extends from Michigan to Georgia. Drawn by the opportunity to make more money, Smith ditched his job three years ago as a diesel mechanic to drive a truck. “I…
Buzzing With ActivityUnique Broad Ripple biz ready to offer franchises For business partners Wendy Reed and Pam Weaver, life these days is starting to look a lot like the frenzy their company name projects: Sugar Buzz. They’re not really hopped up on sweets, but the Indianapolis women are flying high nonetheless-buoyed by the glory of being featured in a national magazine and the promise of franchising their unusual mix of children’s parties and dropin day care. The longtime pals combined…
Indianapolis-based City Securities Corp. is leading a $390 million bond issue for the Indianapolis International Airport expansion. To snag the deal, it overcame a host of far larger competitors on Wall Street. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of local investment banking are greatly exaggerated. It’s the second-largest bond deal in City Securities’ 82-year history, surpassed only by the city’s 2002 purchase of Indianapolis Water Co. for $580 million. City Securities also led the water deal. “We’ve done…
Standard Life Insurance Company of Indiana has much to celebrate as it passes the one-year anniversary of its sale to Capital Assurance Corp. Profitability, a rating upgrade and product launches all are among the positives the company can tout since it gained new life and left behind old owner Standard Management Corp. last June. Standard Life notched a $15.8 million profit last year, due mostly to a gain from the sale of its life insurance business. Subtract that, though, and…
As the cost of health care rises, legislators in Washington, D.C., look for ways to make health care insurance more affordable for everyone. The Indiana State Association of Health Underwriters applauds the efforts of legislators to accomplish this. But the attempt to accomplish this through Association Health Plans, while commendable, ignores history and fails to address the underlying issue-the rising cost of health care. The idea of AHPs has gained in popularity in Washington on the belief that large groups…
What started as a few-thousand-dollar investment to put a company logo on Eddie Johnson’s 1958 Indianapolis 500 car is now a year-round marketing commitment for Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems, valued in the annual mid-six-figure range, to sponsor an Indy Racing League team for the entire season. For 48 years, Bryant’s logo has adorned the sidepod of an open-wheel race car at the Brickyard, as the company has increasingly used the race-and later the entire IRL series-in its marketing and…
Lawyers and other professionals have asked for more than $21 million in fees and expenses for their work on ATA Holdings Corp.’s reorganization, in what appears to be the most expensive case ever in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. But fees and expenses might rise to $33 million after a handful of remaining professional firms file their claims by the end of this month, said James Carr, a veteran Baker & Daniels attorney who quarterbacked…
Scott Jones could probably afford to buy the 1,800-space parking garage at Indianapolis International Airport, as one who’s earned millions of dollars in patent income from voice mail technology he invented. But why buy the garage? The Indianapolis multimillionaire shows up on a list of nearly 400 politicians and other VIPs entitled to free parking at the airport, a review of airport records shows. Begun as a courtesy to a handful of elected officials decades ago, the free parking list…
A spacious home near Stony Creek in Noblesville once known as the Hare estate has been transformed into an intensive treatment facility for young women struggling with severe eating disorders. Dubbed Lotus House, the three-story residence began hosting patients in October. Partners Patrick Hall, 40, and Misty Rees, 33, founded the facility to provide an inpatient alternative to standard care. The facility, which offers therapies for anorexia nervosa and bulimia, is just the second in the Indianapolis area to treat…
