Mouse clicks replace stethoscopes as U.S. web care grows
To cut medical costs and diagnose minor ailments, WellPoint Inc. and Aetna Inc., among other health insurers, are letting millions of patients get seen online first.
Health Care & Insurance
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Commuting safely on bike can require counterintuitive behavior
The rate of bike commuting in Indianapolis has more than doubled since 2000, but many cyclists still don’t know—or follow—some basic guidelines that can keep them safe.
WellPoint stock ascends to a record $110 per share
Indianapolis-based WellPoint saw its shares close July 9 at $110.87 per share, compared with less than $85 just five months ago.
WellPoint CEO: Insurer preparing for technology wave
In a wide-ranging interview, WellPoint Inc. CEO Joseph Swedish says adapting to technology is a top priority as he leads the nation's second largest health insurer.
NCAA seeks injury reduction with fewer full-contact practices
The recommendation is among a set of guidelines created to “generate a cultural shift within college athletics,” the Indianapolis-based NCAA said Monday.
Employees may rebel against Obamacare
The economics of the Obamacare’s exchanges are proving attractive to both employers and workers, but a new poll shows that workers still don’t want to end up in them.
New Obamacare rule could boost WellPoint
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would automatically re-enroll exchange plan customers each year, which would help companies like WellPoint that sold aggressively on the exchanges in their first year.
Express Scripts cuts payments for customized drugs
The nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, is dramatically scaling back its coverage of compounded medications, saying most of the custom-mixed medicines are ineffective or overpriced.
Kokomo doctor gets 2 years for overprescribing
Don Wagoner, his wife and two other doctors were arrested last year on narcotics charges connected to clinics in Kokomo and Burlington. State officials say at least a dozen patients died from drug-related complications.
Obamacare generates windfall for insurers
Obamacare’s tax credits are pumping nearly $400 million into the coffers of health insurers in Indiana this year, according to data released by the federal government and the insurance companies.
CNO upgraded by S&P after divesting insurance unit
CNO Financial Group Inc. was upgraded by Standard & Poor’s after the Carmel-based company completed the sale of a life insurance unit that was no longer issuing policies.
Pence tells feds that HIP 2.0 has broad support
State officials say they will submit a plan Wednesday to expand the Healthy Indiana Plan to more uninsured Hoosiers using federal Medicaid dollars.
Supreme Court lets other birth-control cases stand
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed that its decision a day earlier extending religious rights to closely held corporations applies broadly to the contraceptive coverage requirement in the new health care law.
Medical device maker to hire 112 in Plainfield
Global firm Covidien LP plans to consolidate U.S. operations for servicing its medical devices in central Indiana, renovating its existing 70,000-square-foot facility in the process.
Obama lauds former CEO as right choice to fix VA
A former Army captain, Robert McDonald would bring a blend of corporate and military experience to a bureaucracy reeling from revelations of chronic, system-wide failure and veterans dying while on long waiting lists for treatment.
Report: Indiana boasts four nation-leading life sciences clusters
The areas around each of Indiana’s research university campuses—Bloomington, Indianapolis, Lafayette and South Bend—all boast outsize concentration of life sciences workers. Yet the state still lags on research, development and investment funding.
Justices: Some employers don’t have to cover birth control
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that some corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the new health law requirement that they cover contraceptives for women.
Lilly wins EU backing for version of insulin drug
Lantus, which garnered $7.8 billion in sales for Paris-based Sanofi in 2013, loses patent protection in Europe in May next year.
There will be blood
A new study found that common blood tests performed by hospital-owned facilities in the Indianapolis area were six to nine times more expensive than the same tests at independent lab facilities. Ouch!
Employers scramble to deal with same-sex marriage
Nine out of 10 Hoosier employers do not offer benefits to same-sex partners, meaning many might need to change their policies after a federal judge on Wednesday declared same-sex marriage legal in Indiana.