Health insurers led by WellPoint Inc. are backing Republicans with campaign donations by an 8-to-1 margin, favoring the party
that’s promised to repeal President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul if it wins back Congress.
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.
The health care industry is responding to reforms that will pay doctors bonuses if they provide high-quality care and save
Medicare money.
WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and three other health insurers, criticized by Democrats during the health care reform
debate, are seeking to influence how the new law will be implemented, and possibly change it, by campaigning for supportive
congressional candidates.
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. became the third U.S. health insurer this month to increase its 2010 profit forecast, stirring
investor concern that state and federal regulators may increase scrutiny of industry pricing.
Clarian Health is launching its own health insurance plan, the boldest of several initiatives at Indianapolis hospitals to
bypass health insurers and provide health benefits directly to employers.
WellPoint Inc. has about $800 million riding on one arcane rule: how to calculate a medical loss ratio. The ratio quantifies
the percentage of customers’ premiums were spent on medical care, rather than overhead or profits.
Attorney general seeks more details on the breach, which may have compromised financial and health information on almost 500,000
people. He also calls on the Indianapolis-based insurer to provide affected customers with credit monitoring and theft protection
services.
The program currently includes 1,200 physicians—about 10 percent of all doctors in Indiana.
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. said Wednesday that its California subsidiary will dial down rate hikes that drew national outrage earlier this year and helped spark a final push for health care reform.
Caregivers anticipates coping with declining Medicare reimbursements while having to offer insurance to its employees.
When WellPoint Inc. named Angela Braly its CEO three years ago, it touted her experience dealing with politicians and government
regulators. But WellPoint is now the poster child for health insurer bad behavior—credited in Washington with reviving a
dead health reform bill the company opposed.
U.S. regulators may phase in requirements on how much health insurers spend on medical care to avoid pushing plans out of
the market for people who buy their own coverage, WellPoint Inc.’s chief financial officer said Wednesday.
One in five medical claims is processed inaccurately by commercial health insurers—and a unit of Indianapolis-based
WellPoint Inc. does even worse—often leaving physicians shortchanged, according to the nation's largest doctor's
group.
WellPoint plans to build a network of primary care doctors and specialists who will be available any time to consult with
patients.
The Indianapolis-based insurer’s first-quarter spending is 16 percent more than it spent in the same quarter last year and
in the fourth quarter of 2009.
WellPoint Inc.'s announcement of comparative effectiveness research guidelines last week marks a new era for U.S. drugmakers.
The Indianapolis-based health insurer will use studies that compare the effectiveness of one drug against another as a complement
to typical clinical trial research that compares a drug against a placebo sugar pill.
Dr. Rob Stone wants the giant health insurer to convert to not-for-profit status and put him, an advocate of national health
insurance, on the company’s board.
Influential investor sold off all 1.3 million shares in the Indianapolis-based health insurer during the first quarter.
Board member William “Bucky” Bush, uncle of former President George W. Bush, appeared OK after a shortened meeting in which
shareholders approved
a “say-on-pay” proposal. Protesters gathered outside WellPoint’s headquarters after the meeting.
