WellPoint faces biggest changes under new law
The Indianapolis-based health insurer has more individual and small-business customers than its major competitors, increasing
the impact of health reform.
Health Care Costs
Articles
Indiana joins legal challenge to health care overhaul
State attorney general says the federal health care law raises serious constitutional questions, including whether Congress
has the authority to enact a mandate that most Americans purchase health insurance.
Health care bill burns local tanning industry
With one of the nation’s largest tanning-bed manufacturers and dozens of salons in central Indiana, a 10-percent tax on tanning
could cost the region jobs.
Daniels warns of health bill’s ‘immorally huge’ taxes
Daniels told members of the Economic Club of Indianapolis that it’s ridiculous for anyone to suggest the nearly $1 trillion
health care overhaul signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama won’t add to the nation’s debt.
Bill kicks off years of change for local health care players
Sweeping changes phase in slowly for most, but insurers, hospitals, drug companies, employers, workers, medical device makers
and more will eventually feel impact.
Reform offers risk, opportunities for Lilly, WellPoint
Drugmakers and insurers could gain millions of customers under the legislation, but the industry also will pay new fees and
face stricter rules that may shrink profit and fuel mergers.
Congress passes historic health care bill
To pay for the changes, the legislation includes more than $400 billion in higher taxes over a decade, roughly half of it
from a new Medicare payroll tax on individuals with incomes over $200,000 and couples over $250,000.
WellPoint may be anti-competitive, Connecticut AG says
WellPoint Inc.’s Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut may constrain competition through contracts that require
that the insurer receives hospital discounts at least as favorable as any provided to a competitor.
WellPoint records subpoened in California probe
The California attorney general has demanded documents from several health insurers, including Indianapolis' WellPoint,
believing that their rate-setting and claims practices might be illegal.
Study: Hospital clout spurs higher Calif. health costs
While insurers get the blame for rising health-care costs for consumers, surging fees from hospitals and the growing dominance
of such providers may be just as responsible for driving up expenses, according to a new study examining California's
market.
WellPoint CEO blames health costs for hikes
Amid attacks from Democrats over high executive salaries, Angela Braly testified in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that big
insurance-premium increases are
the result of growing price tags for hospital care and pharmaceuticals.
California lawmakers question Anthem about rate hikes
California lawmakers grilled Anthem Blue Cross executives on Tuesday about their plan to boost individual insurance premiums
by as much as 39 percent, only to hear them blame the economy and a broken health care system.
Obama endorses new taxes, more drugmaker fees
Obama, seeking to break an impasse over health-care legislation, proposes a plan that includes the first Medicare tax on unearned
income such as capital gains and higher fees on drugmakers.
Insurers warn of problems with federal regulator
President Obama’s latest push for a health care overhaul could drive health plans around the country into insolvency, according
to an insurance trade group.
A closer look at WellPoint’s health insurance profits
At the heart of the debate is the question of what should be a fair profit for health insurers. WellPoint CEO Angela Braly
will likely be grilled on the issue when she appears at a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
White House plans new rules for health insurers
President Obama will release a proposal to restart the health-care debate before a bipartisan White House meeting on Feb.
25, one day after WellPoint officials testify before Congress about steep rate increases.
WellPoint, insurance commissioner get earful from lawmakers
State House insurance committee chair grills executives about WellPoint’s 21-percent premium increase for individual policyholders
in Indiana.
State lawmakers to probe WellPoint premium hikes
Three WellPoint executives will be on hand Wednesday morning to answer questions about premium increases on its individual
policies, which have risen as high as 39 percent this year.
ANALYSIS: Insurance rate hikes at heart of health-care debate
Individual insurance rate hikes like those recently planned for WellPoint Inc.’s California customers might be unlikely to
spread to those covered through their employers. But such hikes will affect a huge number of Americans — the 46 million
with no insurance at all.
WellPoint: More employers involved in provider talks
Employer activism is on the rise when it comes to keeping hospitals honest in their negotiations with health insurers.
Executives at Indianapolis-based WellPoint say more employers are airing their displeasure when hospital
systems ask for double-digit reimbursement increases.