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Rick Bossingham
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Free market is best hope for health care:

October 10, 2005

Clearly, the U.S. health care system has its share of problems. Costs are rising rapidly, some 45 million Americans are without health insurance, and both doctors and patients decry their loss of options and control. But, would a government-run health care system be any better? Single-payer health care systems have been proposed in a handful of states as the solution to the problem of access for the uninsured. While single-payer plans can offer all citizens some type of health insurance…

Willingness to adapt keeps benefits firm growing: Key adjusts to ever-changing health insurance market

October 17, 2005

Larry Dust capitalized on a then-radical health insurance concept 25 years ago that thrust him to the forefront of the corporate movement to outsource employee benefits services. Much has changed in the world of health care since, but Dust and Key Benefit Administrators Inc. continue to redefine the way employers approach insurance. “The cheese has moved in this business,” Dust said, “and if you don’t believe it, you better get out.” The 57-year-old Knox native entered the insurance industry after…

VIEWPOINT: Unleash your employees’ service potential

October 17, 2005

As anyone in the field of emergency management will tell you, the regrettably sluggish governmental response to the Hurricane Katrina natural and manmade disaster boils down to the argument over jurisdictions (a perennial challenge in the world of emergency management) and a gross lack of execution. As a result of the governmental infighting and dearth of critical decision-making in the early stages of this catastrophe, American citizens were victimized. People suffered, people died. In the analysis of the Hurricane Katrina…

Premiums continue to climb: Rate increases may dip, but not by very much

October 17, 2005

After four years of double-digit rate hikes, average health care insurance premiums rose less than 10 percent in 2005. And they’re expected to rise less than 10 percent again in 2006, according to several national surveys. But excuse employers if they don’t get excited about the trend. They are still faced with having to pay much higher prices or trimming benefits-or both. Health care insurance premiums this year increased 9.2 percent, a 2-percent drop in the average increase from the…

Taking aim at the middle: New Conseco Insurance leader says growth will be found in average households

October 17, 2005

Four months into his job as president of Conseco Insurance Group, Michael Dubes is explaining his strategy to return the subsidiary to profitability. Then, ice cream enters the conversation. Dairy Queen, he argued, continues to thrive despite an onslaught of competitors offering more expensive treats. The key to the franchise’s success is that it has never wavered from its middleincome target audience, Dubes said. He is applying the same simple tactic to grow the group’s portfolio of policyholders, while many…

EYE ON THE PIE: Time to realign taxes with services

October 24, 2005

Many folks want to get rid of property taxes. They think property taxes are o l d – fa s h i o n e d , although most who think so have not thought through the issue. These property-tax abolitionists want to use income or sales taxes, which they contend are more “fair,” whatever that means. They forget that one aspect of “fairness” is to relate taxes to services received. This is called beneficiary taxation. An example of beneficiary…

NOTIONS: Lessons of withdrawal from a recovering addict

October 31, 2005

A friend of mine recently visited his doctor. He was worried about chest pains. The doctor wired him to an EKG, studied the readings, and pronounced him fit. During the exam, my friend asked how the doctor was doing. The physician said he was dreading winter. He said ailing patients would flock to his office seeking cures. He’d tell them they had viruses and they’d recover on their own. They’d demand medicine. He’d tell them none would help. They’d demand…

Industry: Let’s build minority business: Construction consortium working on diversity

October 31, 2005

A consortium of some of central Indiana’s biggest players in construction has set its sights on improving minority involvement in the $8-billion-a-year industry. The Indiana Construction Roundtable, an organization made up of some of the biggest users and providers of construction services, on Oct. 12 approved a diversity outreach initiative. The ambitious plan aims to increase minority participation in the construction industry by rewarding contractors who support education and training, employ minorities and women, and mentor small minority- and women-owned…

Sometimes hot growth is not a good thing: Study to explore how to cut cooling expenses

November 7, 2005

The definition of an “urban heat island” in Indianapolis would be incomplete if limited to, say, the hot air emanating from the Statehouse during the session. To Qihao Weng, an urban heat island refers to how an entire city remains up to 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside. The Indiana State University associate professor of geography has launched a study to learn just how Indianapolis’ concrete jungle heats up in warm-weather months and by how much. His study funded…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Putting construction, engineering into laymen’s terms

November 7, 2005

Sometimes those of us in the construction industry-like many other professions-forget we have our own technical vocabulary that many laymen simply don’t understand. Like some of my colleagues, I have occasionally started tossing around the lingo of our industry before business and civic leaders from other fields and have seen the confused look that comes over their faces. I have to stop and define my terms. With that situation in mind, I thought it might be helpful to put together…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: It’s high time for us to seek alternative energy sources

November 7, 2005

The Ghawar oil field is the jewel of the Saudi treasure chest. Sometimes called “The King” because of its oil production, this field has yielded more than 55 billion barrels of oil since the early 1950s-more than half of all Saudi oil exports. Today, it still produces about 5 million barrels of oil each day, or about 6 percent of the world’s daily supply of petroleum. But all’s not well at Ghawar. In August, The New York Times Magazine featured…

Museum deemed Monumental: Expansion project earns two design firms top award

November 7, 2005

Indianapolis-based firms Fink Roberts & Petrie Inc. and Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Architects won the Monumental Award for their work on the Indianapolis Museum of Art expansion project. The 28th annual A Monumental Affair was set to take place Nov. 3 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. The awards recognize excellence among those who have contributed to the enhancement and beautification of Marion County through the built and natural environment. Local non-profit organization Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc. leads the Monumental Affair…

EYE ON THE PIE: Should we save ailing manufacturers?

November 21, 2005

Today, Delphi in Kokomo is the leading economic issue in Indiana. The resolution of its difficulties may foreshadow where we go as a state. Delphi is a major manufacturer of electronics for automobiles. As a former component of General Motors Corp., Delphi still depends on that struggling company for a large portion of its revenue. In addition, Delphi has pension and health care costs inherited from GM’s relationship with the United Auto Workers. Despite the fact that Delphi has been…

Health care: big problem for small business: Wyoming lawmaker’s proposed legislation could end 10-year Senate impasse on controversial solution

November 28, 2005

More than 45 million Americans lack health insurance. And more than half of them are employed or dependent on someone who works for a small business, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. It’s a big problem-especially in Indiana. Between 2000 and 2004, 5.6 percent of Hoosier workers lost employer-provided health care, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That’s a higher percentage than any state except Wisconsin. Legislation just introduced in Congress by Wyoming Sen. Michael Enzi, however, may…

States crimp Zyprexa access: Medicaid restrictions cutting into sales of Lilly’s top drug

November 28, 2005

Eli Lilly and Co.’s top seller Zyprexa, pummeled in recent quarters by concerns over side effects, now faces a growing challenge from some of its biggest customers: state Medicaid programs. Citing high costs, more than a half dozen states have moved Zyprexa and other pricey anti-psychotics off preferred drug lists or made it harder for doctors to prescribe them for patients on Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health care coverage for the poor and disabled. Georgia, for instance, saved…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Another mark against Marsh: It has big pension shortfall

December 12, 2005

As if Marsh Supermarkets Inc. didn’t have enough problems, here’s another whopper: The company has a drastically underfunded employee pension plan-to the tune of $44 million. That figure is disclosed deep within a Securities and Exchange Commission filing the company submitted in June. It shows the pension plan had assets of $39 million, less than half its $83 million in projected obligations. It’s a big shortfall, and one analysts say is sure to draw the attention of potential suitors. An…

Conseco could land upgrade by midyear: Analysts see positive signs for Carmel insurer

December 19, 2005

Conseco Inc. by mid-2006 may earn a coveted ratings upgrade from A.M. Best Co., an achievement likely to bolster the Carmel-based insurer’s sales, analysts said. Best probably will dole out the financial-strength upgrade in the second quarter, after the New Jersey-based firm reviews Conseco’s final 2005 financial results, said Jukka Lipponen, a Connecticut-based analyst for Keefe Bruyette & Woods. “We believe as management continues to deliver on its expectations and once Conseco receives the A.M. Best upgrade … investor patience…

ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ Commentary: A news event that hit close to home

January 2, 2006

I’ve been writing professionally for nearly 20 years and this is the hardest column I’ve ever had to write. Originally I planned an end-ofthe-year piece with some snappy one-liners and tongue-incheek observations about local and state issues. Thursday, Dec. 22 at 9:45 a.m. that changed. I was in the Capitol on my way to one of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ weekly media sessions when my cell phone rang. It was a phone call from my producer telling me that 18-year-old James…

Drug costs on chopping block: M-Plan introduces pill-splitting program

January 2, 2006

Indiana’s second-largest insurer, M-Plan Inc., welcomed some of its customers to the new year with a pill-splitting program that can chop prescription drug costs in half. The Indianapolis-based health maintenance organization became part of a growing crowd of insurers endorsing a money-saving concept long practiced by doctors and patients. However, pill splitting still stirs a healthy dose of concern over safety in some corners of the pharmaceutical world. “I’ve had arguments with insurance companies about this for years,” said Skip…

TOM HARTON Commentary: On defense, Republicans get divisive

January 2, 2006

After Republicans Scott Keller and Lance Langsford broke party ranks at the Dec.19 City-County Council meeting and voted for cop consolidation and an expanded human-rights ordinance, fellow Republican Jim Bradford e-mailed them and questioned whether they were true Republicans. Lately, it’s Bradford and other Republican hard-liners who don’t seem like the Indianapolis Republicans of old. Republicans mayors Richard Lugar, William Hudnut and Steve Goldsmith provided pragmatic, progressive leadership here in the 1970s and ’80s and ’90s. Lugar and longtime Council…

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4,592 results for 'mental health'

People

Rick Bossingham

Articles

Free market is best hope for health care:

Willingness to adapt keeps benefits firm growing: Key adjusts to ever-changing health insurance market

VIEWPOINT: Unleash your employees’ service potential

Premiums continue to climb: Rate increases may dip, but not by very much

Taking aim at the middle: New Conseco Insurance leader says growth will be found in average households

EYE ON THE PIE: Time to realign taxes with services

NOTIONS: Lessons of withdrawal from a recovering addict

Industry: Let’s build minority business: Construction consortium working on diversity

Sometimes hot growth is not a good thing: Study to explore how to cut cooling expenses

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Putting construction, engineering into laymen’s terms

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: It’s high time for us to seek alternative energy sources

Museum deemed Monumental: Expansion project earns two design firms top award

EYE ON THE PIE: Should we save ailing manufacturers?

Health care: big problem for small business: Wyoming lawmaker’s proposed legislation could end 10-year Senate impasse on controversial solution

States crimp Zyprexa access: Medicaid restrictions cutting into sales of Lilly’s top drug

BEHIND THE NEWS: Another mark against Marsh: It has big pension shortfall

Conseco could land upgrade by midyear: Analysts see positive signs for Carmel insurer

ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ Commentary: A news event that hit close to home

Drug costs on chopping block: M-Plan introduces pill-splitting program

TOM HARTON Commentary: On defense, Republicans get divisive