A psychiatrist who advises the state of Minnesota on which drugs to use in Medicaid programs received $488,953 in speaking fees from Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. over eight years through 2006, according to an Associated Press analysis. The fees, received by John E. Simon, have raised questions about whether Simon was influenced to recommend […]
“Things that can’t go on forever don’t.” If those famous words of the otherwise obscure Nixon-era economic adviser Herbert Stein apply to anything, it is health care spending. Most of us recognize that health care is expensive, breaking the budgets of many households, pressuring businesses and even challenging the spending capacity of giant federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid. What is less clear is why this is so, and what can, or should, be done about it. We spent more…
Personally, I figured the baboonprint wallpaper justified the new law all by itself. Seriously, after the whole “jungle room” decorating uproar at the governor’s residence last year, wasn’t it obvious that unregulated interior designers were a threat to our very way of life? Your General Assembly sure thought so, and this session the Indiana House and Senate overwhelmingly passed new licensing and certification standards for these decorators-including criminal penalties for impersonating a “registered interior designer.” Well, a funny thing happened…
In the last three years, Indianapolis hospitals have seen a substantial run-up in the amount of charity care they give to patients who can’t pay. The cost of care is rising, more people are uninsured, and government officials are scrutinizing not-for-profit hospitals to make sure they give enough charity care to merit their tax-exempt status.
In October 2005, Indiana’s Medicaid program touted that it could save the state $29 million a year through disease management, a program aimed at reducing the medical costs of patients with chronic illnesses. But now, those estimated savings quietly have been slashed more than 75 percent. And one critic of Indiana’s program says it is likely achieving even less in savings. The debate over the effectiveness of the Indiana Chronic Disease Management Program comes as the state moves to triple…
The first version of the $25.6 billion state budget, passed by the Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives
Feb. 22, didn’t include any money for the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which provides financial assistance
to promising high-tech startups.
Most central Indiana HMOs lost customers again in 2006, with consumerdriven health care plans inflicting the latest cut. Eight out of 10 major health maintenance organizations lost members, some for a third straight year. The declines ranged from 4 percent to 48 percent, according to their annual reports filed with the Indiana Department of Insurance. Most HMOs are in no danger of going out of business. Many posted increased profit in 2006, and most have healthy cash reserves. But HMOs…
Robert J. Brody, president and CEO of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, announced March 8 that St. Francis would shutter
its inpatient hospital in Beech Grove and expand its south-side hospital by 2010. In an interview with IBJ, Brody laid out
the ills that beset hospitals across the country.
It’s been 15 years since third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot briefly captured the nation’s attention with his crisp, witty promises to “look under the hood” to fix the problems in Washington. Since that time, some problems have gotten worse, some have gotten better. But in this era of political polarization and legislative gridlock, the idea of a new face coming to town to actually fix some of the problems we face today is as appealing as ever. What would such…
There are no longer any for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans for WellPoint Inc. to acquire as a means of growth.
State governments have effectively stopped those plans from converting to for-profits. That means new CEO Angela F. Braly
can’t keep WellPoint growing by gobbling up competitors.
A federal law that took effect Jan. 1 requires hospitals and others serving the Medicaid population to teach their employees how to detect fraud and report it to the government. Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage to the needy and is prone to abuse. In an effort to reduce abuse, the legislation requires companies that do at least $5 million annually in Medicaid business to educate all employees and officers on how to spot fraud….
Angie’s List is preparing to bring its patented dose of consumer empowerment to your local doctor’s office. The Web-based
rating service–which started 2007 by expanding into 30 more cities–hopes to launch a pilot program in Indianapolis that
rates doctors, insurers and others in the health care business.
State officials are advancing plans to privatize a state-run hospital for the mentally ill and now are looking for a not-for-profit
to build and manage a new facility in Indianapolis.
Most observers assume there will be a confrontation between House Democrats, led by Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels this session. They suggest it’s like watching a hockey game and just waiting for a big fight. But confrontation need not be a synonym for breakdown , and while legislative Democrats and Daniels have some different philosophies about the role of government, they also have some basic agreements on just what should be accomplished before the end…
The brutal murders of seven family members, including three children shot dead in their east-side Indianapolis home, cast a dark cloud over the city last summer. Yet the June slayings only served as a harbinger of a wave of violence that later claimed 15 lives in a 10-day span. The crime spree rattled city leaders so severely that Mayor Bart Peterson declared an emergency normally reserved for a natural disaster. 2006 no doubt ranked among the most deadly years in…
A court-appointed trustee in charge of Winona Memorial Hospital’s bankruptcy says he believes former owners fleeced it for
more than $4 million. But he has little to show from his two-year quest to recover money for creditors and now is winding
down the case.
A 65-year-old, recently retired couple came into our office the other day seeking advice on portfolio allocation. The husband had a 401(k) rollover with $1 million in it and wanted to take out $50,000 a year for income. Within the first few minutes of the meeting each said, “We can’t afford to take much risk with this money because we won’t make any more, and it’s all we will ever have.” Followed by, “We can’t afford the risk of the…
Former Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis is attempting to build a virtual version of Indiana for policymakers to wander. If successful, the new IT system could help shape Statehouse debate on a host of subjects.
The other day, as investors basked in the glow of new stock market highs, an eyecatching headline traveled across newswires. The article, which seemed out of place with the record highs on the Dow Jones industrial average, was titled “GAO chief warns economic disaster looms.” The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, is an investigative arm of Congress that audits and evaluates the performance of the federal government. The head of the GAO can be thought of as the nation’s chief…
Indianapolis Public Schools late this month plans to convene a community panel to help the state’s largest school system implement a dropout prevention plan next spring. The first public meeting of the 50-person panel is set for Nov. 27 and comes as a new report suggests Indiana dropouts cost taxpayers $62 million a year. The panel is made up of a wide range of people, from parents to community leaders. Each of the estimated 21,000 dropouts statewide costs the state…
