In almost every place that two or more Americans gather, health care is debated. Because the bills before Congress are
inaccessible, the debate has shifted instead to principles such as the role of government and individual freedoms. I think this a healthy thing.
A panel of five leaders of the state’s life sciences
industry took on a wide range of topics
July 24 at IBJ’s Power Breakfast
at the Westin Indianapolis.
Lawmakers must take action but also ensure that any plan incorporates four basic principles.
Businesses all want to see reform of the health care system, but they diverge on how much the U.S. government’s entrance into
the insurance market would help or hurt them.
Four years after its launch, the Indiana Health Information Exchange is laying the groundwork to take its game outside state
borders. The Indianapolis-based not-for-profit offers a service that provides patient records and test results via computer
to hospitals and doctors around central Indiana. But now, its leaders think they can take their expertise to other cities
and help them develop their own health information exchanges.
There are no longer any for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans for WellPoint Inc. to acquire as a means of growth.
State governments have effectively stopped those plans from converting to for-profits. That means new CEO Angela F. Braly
can’t keep WellPoint growing by gobbling up competitors.
