Marsh Supermarkets Inc.’s decision to offer its employees a health reimbursement account as their only health insurance option
this year has captured the attention of local employers and benefits consultants.
A team inside WellPoint Inc. that created a successful product for the 20-somethings is hard at work trying to create a similar
winner among Hispanics. A roughly 25-person team has researched Hispanics for two years and now is using its findings to establish
a separate brand name, a new Web site and grass-roots techniques to reach Hispanics.
A bill moving through the Indiana General Assembly could remove one of the major weapons Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
has used to preserve its market dominion. Senate Bill 114 would forbid health care providers from granting Anthem–or any
other health insurer–so-called “most favored nation” clauses.
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.
Angie’s List is preparing to bring its patented dose of consumer empowerment to your local doctor’s office. The Web-based
rating service–which started 2007 by expanding into 30 more cities–hopes to launch a pilot program in Indianapolis that
rates doctors, insurers and others in the health care business.
