The California Department of Insurance said Wednesday it approved a rate increase averaging about 14 percent for Anthem Blue
Cross customers. The department also OK’d a nearly 19-percent increase for Blue Shield of California.
Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Anne Murphy and acting Insurance Commissioner Stephen Robertson have sent
Gov. Mitch Daniels a letter that now estimates the overhaul will cost Indiana $235 million more than the previous estimate
in May.
Diabetics who control their disease with pills instead of frequent insulin injections can thank Dr. William R. Kirtley, a
groundbreaking Eli Lilly researcher.
Bankrolled by yet another multimillionaire, the historic preservation group is preparing to move into a new headquarters
in Old Centrum, a former church now undergoing a big renovation.
The Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Indiana Health Information Exchange are going to work to make
their medical record systems talk to each other in a pilot project spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Even with debt levels at Eli Lilly and Co. at paltry lows, a string of bad news finally forced Standard & Poor’s
to lower
its rating on the company’s senior unsecured debt. But the New York-based agency said it believes the Indianapolis-based
drugmaker will eventually break its string of bad luck on developing new products.
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.
The state will use the money to review proposed premium increases. It also will look at best practices in other states to
identify areas where it can strengthen health insurance laws and rules.
Outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 8-6 Thursday in favor of a broader use of Cymbalta on the basis
of studies in lower back pain and osteoarthritis of the knee.
The invalidation of Lilly’s Strattera patent opened the door for as many as 10 companies to sell generic versions of the drug,
which generated U.S. sales of $445.6 million last year as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The company, headquartered at Purdue Research Park, said the number of shares to be offered and their price range have yet
to be determined.
A dozen potential products designed to slow or stop clumps of protein from forming in the brain, a condition linked to the
disease since 1906, have failed in mid- to late-stage testing since 2003.
What a tough week for Lilly. On Aug. 12, a judge struck down the Indianapolis-based drugmaker’s U.S. patent on Strattera,
which might cost the company about $450 million in annual revenue. Then, five days later, Lilly halted clinical trials on
one
of its experimental Alzheimer’s medicines, because patients did worse on the drug than on a placebo.
Dr. Kevin Macadaeg, vice president of the Indiana Spine Group, talked about his physician
group's decision to build a 60,000-square-foot medical office and "bioskills" lab in Carmel next year, as well
as the group's commitment to grow independently in the face of pressures from hospital acquisitions and health reform.
Monroe Hospital in Bloomington is the latest target in the statewide buildup by hospital systems. St. Vincent Health, St.
Francis and at least one other system have all had talks in the past month with Monroe.
The mandate from a U.S. bankruptcy judge will supply retroactive benefits to more than 6,000 Visteon Corp. retirees who lost
insurance coverage after
the
Michigan-based auto-parts maker filed for bankruptcy in 2009, including 2,100 workers in Indiana.
Approval for the millions of Americans with chronic back or knee pain may add more than $500 million, or 16 percent, to Cymbalta’s
annual sales.
Studies showed that the treatment did not slow the disease's progression. It's just the latest setback for the pharmaceutical
giant, which lost a patent lawsuit over a major drug last week and faces an unprecedented number of patent expirations through
2014.
Eli Lilly and Co. on Thursday lowered its revenue outlook for the year after it lost a patent lawsuit over its attention
deficit hyperactivity drug Strattera. The patent had been set to expire in May 2017. Lilly plans to appeal.
The health care industry is responding to reforms that will pay doctors bonuses if they provide high-quality care and save
Medicare money.
