St. Francis-WellPoint deal is a sign of the times
St. Francis, which operates three Indianapolis-area hospitals, and WellPoint, the giant health insurer, announced this month that they have agreed to jointly form an accountable care organization.
Health Care Costs
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AHLRICHS: Turn health reform into pragmatic answers
Health reform entrepreneurship could brand Indiana as productive, healthy place for employers to operate.
Indiana medical students opt for specialties, not family practice
Interest in primary care has fallen off markedly due partly to relatively low pay.
Study: Indianapolis high-priced hospital market
Indianapolis-area hospitals have negotiated reimbursement rates with private health insurers that are two and three times higher than those paid by the federal Medicare program, suggesting the hospitals have the upper hand over insurers, according to a new study.
Q&A
Les Zwirn, executive director of Better Healthcare for Indiana, talked about his group’s progress on promoting community collaborations to improve health and reduce the cost of care in cities around Indiana. BHI is hosting its third health care summit of Indiana community leaders today at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.
Study: Substance abuse treatment costly for state
A study at the Center for Health Policy at IUPUI found that 66 cents of every dollar the state spends on services related to substance abuse goes toward health care while only 1 cent goes toward prevention or intervention.
New estimate drops health plan’s cost to Indiana
A new estimate has lowered the expected cost of the federal health care overhaul to Indiana’s state government to perhaps $2.6 billion over the next decade.
Rules mostly falling WellPoint’s way
Health insurers won fairly broad leeway under key rules suggested by state insurance commissioners that will govern what kinds of expenses count toward meeting a new federal threshold to spend at least 80 percent of premiums dollars on medical care.
Health overhaul’s $264M question weighs down WellPoint
The failure by state regulators to decide how much insurers must spend on patient care is scaring investors from health-plan stocks and complicating insurance company decisions.
Building binge hasn’t crimped hospital profits
Indianapolis-area hospitals spent billions on construction in the past decade and increasingly tried to poach patients from one another’s territories. Yet last year—one of the worst economically in recent history—21 of 26 hospitals still were able to show operating profits.
Bill could make health workers pay for FBI checks
The bill has the potential to affect more than 250,000 Indiana workers in up to 24 categories of licensed professionals, including doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, chiropractors, hypnotists, dietitians and even veterinarians.
Barron’s: Brighter days ahead for WellPoint
It’s been a tough year for major health insurers, but Barron’s magazine predicts a big comeback for Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. and its rival UnitedHealth Group.
Partnership gives Angie’s List members medical price info
Angie’s List has partnered with Tennessee-based Healthcare Blue Book to give its members price information before they receive medical care.
Health costs surge despite weak inflation
Ben Bernanke may be worried about deflation in the economy, but there’s certainly no chance of it in health care and
insurance. Employers’ health plan premiums surged another 8 percent this year, according to results from a massive survey
by Indianapolis-based United Benefit Advisors.
Bedsore preventer turns to detection
Changes in reimbursement could fuel market for WoundVision’s product.
WellPoint, other health insurers race to join accountable care groups
The health care industry is responding to reforms that will pay doctors bonuses if they provide high-quality care and save
Medicare money.
WellPoint, peers focus on health reform rules, campaign
WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and three other health insurers, criticized by Democrats during the health care reform
debate, are seeking to influence how the new law will be implemented, and possibly change it, by campaigning for supportive
congressional candidates.
New law takes American Health Network full circle
Dr. Ben Park joined Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1993 to start a large group of primary care physicians who would
institute a concept called managed care. Now American Health Network is
well-positioned to take advantage of the new version of managed care, called accountable care.
Survey: Many hospital patients in dark about debt-relief options
Marion County survey finds 80 percent of respondents in debt to local hospitals, with about half saying they were never informed
about the availability
of charity care or payment plans.
Hospitals see dip in charity care after 2008
Unemployment in Indiana has moderated slightly, but more than 313,000 Hoosiers remain out of work. And with attempts to extend
benefits for the jobless stalled in Congress, it’s likely more people will struggle to pay medical bills.