Employer clinics are latest health care disruption
The clinics could rearrange the system by forcing price quotes and demanding that providers follow-through.
Health Care Costs
Articles
If past is prologue, HMOs will make a comeback in Indiana
WellPoint created an HMO joint venture with seven big hospitals in Los Angeles. Could it do something similar here? Quite possibly.
IU Health CFO: 3 years to go in difficult transition
In the past two years, IU Health has laid off 935 people, halted construction of a major bed tower, sold off health clinics and decided to close its proton-therapy center. But there are three more years of changes to come, said CFO Ryan Kitchell.
The pain (and pleasure) that comes from paying more of our health care bills
Paying off medical debts over time is now a common experience for families with health insurance and becoming more so. And that is inducing big changes in the health care marketplace.
Why small firms have been irate about health insurance
For Indiana employers with fewer than 10 workers, health insurance premiums have risen 11.5 percent, on average, from 2001 to 2013. That ranked second-highest among all states.
What if hospitals ‘upcharged’ you for being fat?
As local hospitals try to offer package deals with upfront prices on joint replacement surgeries, they're struggling with the reality that patients' other health conditions can significantly increase their cost of care.
Obamacare exchanges boosted coverage, premiums and spending in Indiana
A new study finds that Obamacare boosted enrollment in Indiana’s individual insurance market significantly over what it would have been without the law, but also caused premiums to spike.
Conservatives swinging Pence’s way on health reform
Conservatives, after waging war on Obamacare, including its large expansion of Medicaid, are starting to try to propose alternative, conservative ways to achieve its key goals.
Startup Companion Diagnostics trying to work through bankruptcy
Companion Diagnostics Inc., a biotech company that relocated to Indiana from Connecticut in 2010, has entered bankruptcy reorganization while it tries to develop a therapy for inflammation.
While national health care spending growth slowed, Indiana accelerated
Indiana does not appear to be enjoying the rest of the nation’s slowdown in health care spending. Year-to-year growth in Indiana hit 6 percent in 2012 versus 4.5 percent for the nation.
Indiana has too many nursing homes
Indiana has 58 percent more nursing homes per resident and spends an extra $1 billion per year on care in nursing homes than the average for the rest of the country.
Patients, providers respond after Anthem promotes lower-cost MRI facilities
Anthem patients in five U.S. cities, including Indianapolis, spent $220 less per MRI scan after Anthem told them of lower-cost facilities. In response, hospital-owned MRI facilities cut their prices.
Franciscan cuts its way to higher profits
Franciscan Alliance, which operates three hospitals in the Indianapolis area, is seeing fewer patients this year but is making more money due to expense cuts.
Indiana’s tax breaks for jobs cost at least three times more than Medicaid expansion
State and local governments hand out $921 million per year to entice business to add jobs. The Medicaid expansion is estimated to cost no more than $279 million per year.
Is this the future of rural health care: Walmart, walk-in clinics and an ambulance?
In two to three years, primary care clinics could be popping up in Walmart stores in rural Indiana while most rural Indiana hospitals will offer little to no inpatient services. That’s dramatically different from what we’re used to.
The most likely conflict zone between Pence, Obama
Gov. Mike Pence thinks his HIP 2.0 plan would reform Medicaid in line with conservative principles. To the extent the Obama administration agrees, that’s the biggest hurdle to get the plan approved.
Small employers dumping plans faster than expected, WellPoint says
WellPoint saw 218,000 members of its health plans disappear because their employers ended their group plans. Other insurers, however, say small employers are ending their plans more slowly than expected.
Should IU Health pursue a strategy of mediocrity?
Indiana University Health fell off U.S. News’ honor roll of the nation’s top 1 percent of hospitals. Because of Obamacare and other trends, perhaps IU Health should be happy about that.
If courts gut Obamacare, Pence will face tough choice
If this week’s D.C. appeals court ruling stands up—declaring the Obamacare tax subsidies illegal in Indiana and most other states—Gov. Mike Pence could face significant pressure, even from traditional Republican supporters, to keep the tax credits flowing.
Will hospitals’ higher facility fees survive health reform?
One of the open secrets in health care is that hospitals are paid substantially more than independently owned health care facilities for the same procedures. But those higher fees are facing unprecedented pressure.