Articles

Employers face messy decision to drop health insurance

Companies that drop insurance coverage could, without spending any more money than they are now, give workers an 11-percent raise or else help them save as much as $2,000 per year buying health coverage in one of the exchanges, IBJ calculations show.

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WellPoint to pay $100,000 over data breach

Health insurer WellPoint Inc. will pay $100,000 and take other steps after admitting it waited months to notify 32,000 Indiana customers that their Social Security numbers, health records and other personal information might have been exposed online.

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R&D spending soars above value of new drugs

To understand the depths of the pharmaceutical industry’s recent struggles, consider this: The industry has been spending $57 billion more per year on research and development than the value of the products it has been launching. That’s a problem.

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Lilly asks judge to reject U.K. Zyprexa case

Eli Lilly and Co., the Indianapolis-based drugmaker whose best-selling schizophrenia medicine Zyprexa survived a patent challenge in Britain two years ago, has asked a United Kingdom judge to reject a parallel lawsuit by a generic drug company.

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Timing good for 2-in-1 biotech drugs

Eli Lilly and Co.’s foray into combination drugs is well-timed because the company could take advantage of some the world’s most successful biotech medicines, which are about to see their patents expire.

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IU Health loses CFO to larger hospital system

Marvin Pember, 58, is taking a new job near Philadelphia as the president of the acute care division of Universal Health Services Inc., a publicly traded company with 22 acute hospitals and numerous behavioral health centers spread from coast to coast.

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Quarterly lobbying bill adds up to $2.5M for Lilly

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. raised its spending 8 percent from the $2.3 million that it spent in the first quarter of last year. The drugmaker also spent 70 percent more than the $1.5 million recorded in the final quarter of 2010, according to lobbying reports filed with the House of Representatives.

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Wellpoint

WellPoint spent $1.5M lobbying feds in first quarter

WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health insurer based on membership, spent about $1.5 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter, as the health care overhaul debuted a new restriction that concerned managed care companies.

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Q&A

Jim Alender has been CEO of Howard Regional Health System in Kokomo since 1997. He recently negotiated a letter of intent to merge the hospital with Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health. He spoke about the major factors that led to that decision, and the benefits he hopes to come from it. The deal, which still requires approval from Howard County officials, could close before the end of this year.

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