Consumers grow allergic to health care costs
Deloitte found that 20 percent of consumers have cut back on health care spending and 75 percent say the economic slowdown has had some impact on their willingness to spend on health care.
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WellPoint fails to profit on consumer pullback
With recession-weary Americans going to the doctor less, health insurer WellPoint Inc. should be enjoying higher profits. But it isn’t working out that way.
Health care use trend may temper premium hikes
Consumers may catch a little break when their health insurance policies renew. Lower-than-expected use of health care has helped push insurer earnings higher and that may temper how much they increase premiums.
WellPoint profit falls but exceeds Wall Street expectations
Indianapolis-based WellPoint earned $702 million in the latest quarter after earning $722 million a year ago. It also raised its full-year profit forecast.
WellPoint insures two-thirds of Hoosier workers
Indianapolis-based WellPoint claimed 63 percent of all employees covered by small-group employers and 66 percent of the workers at large-group employers, according to Seattle-based actuarial firm Milliman Inc.
Express Scripts to buy Medco for $29.1B in cash, stock
Express Scripts Inc. agreed to buy Medco Health Solutions Inc. for $29.1 billion to become the largest pharmacy-benefits manager in the United States. Both have central Indiana operations.
Primary care gets a new approach: prevention
A budding model for primary care that encourages the family doctor to act as a health coach who focuses as much on preventing illness as on treating it has shown promising results and saved insurers millions of dollars.
Birth control coverage required in U.S. health plan
Health insurers led by WellPoint Inc. would be required to cover birth control pills and devices at no cost to patients under the recommendation of a top U.S. scientific advisory board.
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Court gives preliminary OK to WellPoint settlement
A California court has granted preliminary approval to a lawsuit settlement over an online security breach of health insurer WellPoint Inc.'s records.
Not-for-profits vying with WellPoint may get $3.8B in loans
Not-for-profits that compete with insurers such as WellPoint Inc. are eligible for $3.8 billion in U.S. financing under the health law, and the government expects more than a third of the loans not to be repaid.
Healthy Indiana Plan makes room for more childless adults
Indiana is opening the rolls of its Healthy Indiana Plan medical savings account to 8,000 childless adults on Aug. 1.
More employers put faith in health savings accounts
Sizable Indianapolis companies like the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, consumer-ratings service Angie’s List, Marsh and Wilhelm Construction have switched to consumer-directed health plans. There’s some evidence nationally that the trend is set to accelerate.
Judge says no insurance cash for Indiana concert hall
A judge has decided that the owners of a southern Indiana concert hall destroyed in an arson nearly two years ago aren't owed any insurance money because they didn't properly maintain the sprinkler system.
Employers face messy decision to drop health insurance
Companies that drop insurance coverage could, without spending any more money than they are now, give workers an 11-percent raise or else help them save as much as $2,000 per year buying health coverage in one of the exchanges, IBJ calculations show.
Outgoing CEO: After ‘near-death experience,’ CNO doing well
CEO Jim Prieur got more than he bargained for when he took over CNO Financial Group (then-Conseco) five years ago, but he said he’s ready to step down now that the insurer is in good shape.
CNO says CEO Prieur to retire, to be replaced by CFO
Jim Prieur will retire as CEO of CNO Financial Group Inc. on Sept. 30 and will replaced by the company’s chief financial officer, Ed Bonach, the company announced Wednesday.
WellPoint to pay $100,000 over data breach
Health insurer WellPoint Inc. will pay $100,000 and take other steps after admitting it waited months to notify 32,000 Indiana customers that their Social Security numbers, health records and other personal information might have been exposed online.
Contractor wins $14.5M judgment against State Farm
A Hamilton County jury sided with Joseph Radcliff in his lengthy legal battle with the insurer following a 2006 hailstorm that caused severe damage in central Indiana. State Farm accused Radcliff of fraud.
WellPoint spent $1.5M lobbying feds in first quarter
WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health insurer based on membership, spent about $1.5 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter, as the health care overhaul debuted a new restriction that concerned managed care companies.
Tornadoes latest catastrophe to hit insurer’s books
Baldwin & Lyons Inc. expects to lose another $10 million due to worldwide catastrophes that occurred in the first half of the year, the Indianapolis-based property and casualty insurer reported Tuesday.