Two of the largest U.S. health insurers are giving Obamacare customers more time to pay their initial premiums as the industry tries to coax millions of people to take the final step in cementing coverage for 2014.
Paul J. Page was one of four principals of troubled Indianapolis-based condo firm Page Development, which spearheaded the Villagio at Page Pointe project at the south edge of downtown.
The governor said state government operations will resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The General Assembly plans to return at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
It’s a challenging time to be a hospital CEO, but when Jonathan Nalli takes the helm of St. Vincent Health, he’ll have about as strong a financial hand as anybody to play.
Dr. Samantha Bouchie, an internist, has joined Community Physician Network in Noblesville. She earned her medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Dr. Rehan Haque, a pulmonary and critical care physician, has joined Community Physician Network in Indianapolis. He previously worked as an affiliate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida. He earned a medical degree from Aga Khan University School of Medicine in Pakistan.
Dr. Rachel Morton, a pediatric hospitalist, has joined Community Physician Network, practicing at Community North Hospital. She earned a medical degree from the New York Medical College.
Dr. Lauren Rau, a pediatric hospitalist, has joined Community Physician Network, practicing at Community North Hospital. She earned her medical degree at IU School of Medicine.
Dr. Carla Weaver, a pediatric hospitalist, has joined Community Physician Network, practicing at Community Hospital East. She previously worked at St. Vincent Health as a newborn hospitalist for 10 years. She did her medical training at the IU School of Medicine.
Encore Health Network, a network of health care providers owned by Community Health Network, Indiana University Health and Deaconess Health, has added St. Vincent Health to its fold. The Indianapolis-based network will offer discounted access to St. Vincent doctors and hospitals in the Anderson, Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis and Kokomo markets. Insurance companies, third-party administrators and employers contract with Encore and its Encircle network products to obtain discounts on medical services.
Indiana University Health and UnitedHealthcare entered the new year without a contract. That would normally mean UnitedHealthcare’s customers would pay higher prices at IU Health’s hospitals and physician offices. But IU Health has decided to still give patients the same "in network" co-pays and deductibles that UnitedHealthcare had negotiated under the expiring contracts, keeping patients’ costs the same until a new deal is reached. IU Health said in a press release it would apply the "in network" discounts only to the patient portions of its bills, not to the portions paid by UnitedHealthcare. The Minnesota-based health insurer first notified its customers on Dec. 2 that its contracts with IU Health could expire at year end. Such contracts typically shave 30 percent or more off the list prices of a hospital system’s services. The contract dispute could affect the roughly 400,000 Hoosiers that have employer-based or individually purchased insurance with UnitedHealthcare. That represents about 12 percent of the Indiana commercial market, according to data from Tennessee-based market research firm HealthLeaders-InterStudy. IU Health operates 20 hospitals and employs nearly 1,500 physicians around Indiana.
The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an Obamacare requirement that religiously affiliated employers provide health insurance that includes birth control. The decision gives temporarily relief to Catholic plaintiffs that said Obamacare’s requirement to provide contraception coverage violated their religious freedom. In a related case, Indiana-based Franciscan Alliance and other Catholic organizations won a temporary injunction from a federal judge in Indiana, to allow the Supreme Court challenge to play out before Franciscan would be required to provide contraception coverage to its workers via its health insurance plan. "We simply asked that the government not impose its values and policies on plaintiffs, in direct violation of our religious beliefs," said Kevin Leahy, CEO of Franciscan Alliance, which operates three hospitals in the Indianapolis area. The Affordable Care Act required all health insurers to cover contraception at no cost to its health plan members and required all employers with 50 or more workers to provide health insurance to their workers. Both provisions were set to take effect Jan. 1.
All four of the National Football League’s wild-card playoff games will be televised in their host team’s local market after corporate support helped ensure sellouts.
Meijer Inc. purchased 1,200 remaining tickets to the game against the Kansas City Chiefs and plans to donate them to local military families, helping the Colts reach the sellout.
Broadway’s “Ragtime,” Butler’s “Lamentations,” and two Icemen among half a century of theater-going highlights
What would UCLA fans think of H.R. Haldeman Pavilion? And why couldn’t I get a signal at the Verizon Center?
The Indiana Pacers are the hottest team in the National Basketball Association, and their winning ways are paying off for the team and its broadcast partner.
The Indianapolis Colts now have until 4:35 p.m. Friday to reach a sellout to ensure their playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs will be televised in central Indiana.
Obamacare has officially arrived, but both conservatives and liberals are calling it awful. That means the real debate over health reform is just beginning.
IU Health has decided to still give patients the same “in network” co-pays and deductibles that UnitedHealthcare had negotiated under the expiring contracts, keeping patients’ costs the same until a new deal is reached.
Prices for club seats to Saturday's Colts home playoff game are climbing to near $2,000. But the Kansas City Chiefs aren't proving to be near the playoff draw at Lucas Oil Stadium the N.Y. Jets were in 2010.
The Marott Center was built in 1906 as one of the first multi-level department stores in Indiana and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bioanalytical Systems Inc. posted its second straight profitable quarter, and swung to a full-year profit, according to an announcement released Dec. 26. The West Lafayette-based provider of pharmaceutical testing services and equipment continues to try to turn around after a major restructuring in 2012. It earned $252,000 in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss the year before of nearly $2.7 million, much of which was due to restructuring charges. For the full fiscal year, Bioanalytical earned $789,000, compared with a loss of $6.3 million during the previous fiscal year. Revenue for the fiscal year fell nearly 22 percent, after the 2012 closure of testing facilities in Oregon and the United Kingdom. That helped reduce Bioanalytical’s expenses by one-third, boost its gross margin by nearly 50 percent, and turn its cash flow from operations from a negative $200,000 last year to $1.5 million in fiscal 2013.
The McDonald's restaurant inside Riley Hospital for Children will close this week, according to the Associated Press. Officials at Indiana University Health, which operates Riley, said they want to promote healthier foods than burgers, fries and sodas. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine issued a report in 2012, naming Riley one of the five worst children's hospitals for its food environment, with the presence of the McDonald’s listed as one of the biggest factors for the ranking. That report came two months after IU Health had joined the Partnership for a Healthier America, a group working to reduce childhood obesity. Since joining the partnership, IU Health has banned sugary drinks at its in-house eateries and will soon ban deep-fat fryers, although the partnership did not require those bans to extend to the independently operated McDonald’s. Next month, Riley will open a cafe in the lobby of the Simon Family Tower that will remain open 20 hours a day and offer many options, including those that appeal to children.
Indianapolis-based Hoosier Oncology Group has received a $1.9 million gift to help conduct clinical trials of new cancer treatments. The group, founded in 1984, said it would use the money in part to expand its capacity to store blood and tissue samples for later study. The gift came from the estate of Margaret M. Weeks, who was a schoolteacher in the Indianapolis Public Schools. She died in February at the age of 94. Since its founding, Hoosier Oncology Group has initiated more than 150 clinical trials involving more than 3,000 patients. The group was spun out from the Indianapolis-based Walther Cancer Institute in 2007.
A measure passed by state lawmakers that took effect in July targets scrap vehicles, catalytic converters and air conditioner evaporator coils being brought to scrapyards in exchange for cash.
A look at some of the runner-up top Indianapolis business stories from 2013.
