Court ruling would lift cloud of uncertainty
The U.S. Supreme Court did not hand down a ruling in the health care reform case Monday morning. The nine justices meet again Thursday, but most observers expect the decision to come June 25 or June 28.
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WellPoint lowers earnings forecast after $90M legal bill
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. said it is lowering its profit forecast for the year by 3 percent after reaching a $90 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit.
WellPoint settlement: $90M for former Anthem members
The federal lawsuit was set to go to trial June 18 in Indianapolis. The claims arise from Anthem’s 2001 conversion from a mutual company, owned by its insured policyholders, to a public company.
WellPoint rivals to keep parts of health care law
Some of the nation's biggest health insurers will keep some popular parts of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even if the law fails to survive U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny later this month. Indianapolis-based WellPoint will wait for the court ruling.
Johnson County flood victims still reeling 4 years later
The devastating 2008 flood continues to have repercussions for victims. They are still paying off the tens of thousands of dollars they had to borrow in some cases to hang new drywall, lay down new carpeting and replace major appliances.
WellPoint seeks to diversify by buying contacts retailer
WellPoint Inc. plans to buy lens retailer 1-800-Contacts Inc. in a deal worth an estimated $900 million, giving the insurer its first direct-to-consumer business outside selling individual health coverage.
WellPoint buying 1-800 Contacts for about $900M
The Indianapolis-based health insurer said 1-800 Contacts is attractive partly because it has bigger profit margins than its core insurance business, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Price hikes offset slower health care use
Newly available data from private health insurance plans show that price hikes by hospitals, doctors and drug companies have kept employer spending rising recently even as their employees and dependents have moderated their consumption of health care services.
Indianapolis council to consider domestic-partner benefits
City-County Councilor Angela Mansfield filed the proposal covering city employees that would make same-sex and heterosexual couples who live together eligible for health insurance benefits.
WellPoint protestors harass Braly as political disclosure proposal fails
The proposal, which sought twice-yearly reports on all the health insurer’s donations used for political campaigns or lobbying, was overwhelmingly voted down by WellPoint shareholders.
Activists plan to protest WellPoint political giving at meeting
A mix of union groups, activist investors and single-payer advocates will call for increased disclosure from WellPoint, and some investment funds will vote against WellPoint board members who they say have failed to exercise proper oversight of WellPoint’s political spending.
State’s high court to weigh hospital bills
The Indiana Supreme Court this week will consider whether hospital billing practices should be put on trial. The state’s highest court will hear oral arguments Thursday in a case in which two uninsured patients have sued Indiana University Health for charging them much higher prices than it would have charged insured patients.
Set pricing helps boost diagnostic network’s growth
When the same MRI at one facility costs $600 and at another costs $2,200, Dr. Robert Gregori would call that a business opportunity.
Baldwin & Lyons posts record first-quarter profit
The auto and trucking fleet insurer reported profit of $11.5 million in the first quarter compared with a loss of $15.2 million in the prior-year period, when company earnings took a beating from earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand.
CNO quarterly earnings jump on stronger sales
CNO Financial Group Inc. on Monday reported first-quarter earnings of $59.1 million, a 30-percent increase from the $45.1 million it earned in the same quarter last year.
Report: Rebates from health care law will top $1B
More than 3 million health insurance policyholders and thousands of employers will share $1.3 billion in rebates this year, thanks to health care reforms, a research group said Thursday. Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. is expected to return $94 million.
Broker tied to ISTA insurance woes still tangling with state
David Karandos failed to make fine payments due March 1 and April 1, and Securities Commissioner Chris Naylor has ordered him to appear at a May hearing to make the case why “additional consequences” aren’t warranted.
WellPoint sees $100 billion ‘duals’ market as care shifts
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. sees a $100 billion market in the states it serves to provide managed care for poor, elderly patients in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
CNO Financial expects to take $20M legal charge
The charge stems from a legal dispute involving changes in some life-insurance policies sold by subsidiary Conseco Life Insurance Co.
Bankers Life paying $10M fine following securities probe
CNO Financial Group Inc. has agreed to pay $9.9 million to settle allegations by regulators in four states that its Bankers Life subsidiary acted as an investment adviser and broker-dealer without proper state licensing.