Think again: Why Obama’s disclosure of hospital charges won’t help you
In the first post on my new blog, The Dose, I explain why the recently released Medicare charge data are meaningless for everyone but uninsured patients.
Medicare
Articles
Lilly study: 1 in 5 Alzheimer’s patients misdiagnosed
The study results, which will be released Monday afternoon, are part of Indianapolis-based Lilly’s campaign to get Medicare to pay for use of its brain imaging agent Amyvid.
Study rebuts hospitals’ argument on Medicare, rising costs
Rather than raising prices on private health insurers to make up for inadequate payments from the government, hospitals across the country have been raising prices just because they can, according to a new study.
WellPoint jumps after feds reverse Medicare decision
Shares of Indianapolis-based WellPoint rose along with those of other medical insurers Tuesday morning after the U.S. government reversed a decision to cut a key Medicare payment rate, offering them an increase instead.
Sequester could sap $200M from Indiana health care providers
The sequestration plan kicking in Friday will chop Medicare payments to hospitals, doctors and nursing homes by 2 percent, beginning April 1. One study estimates that the cuts could result in 10,000-plus job losses in Indiana alone.
House, Pence split on state’s Medicaid expansion
Gov. Mike Pence is battling with House lawmakers over expanding health care coverage for roughly 400,000 Indiana residents, amid concerns that the state's health care program for the poor won't be able to handle the flood of new enrollees.
Franciscan, American Health join new ACOs
Franciscan St. Francis Health and American Health Network continue to get deeper into the accountable care organization concept being promoted by the federal Medicare program under the 2010 health reform law.
State expects to extend Healthy Indiana Plan a year
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed to a waiver that would allow the state to continue the program unchanged for a year.
Home health agency closes after losing reimbursement
Carmel-based ABC Homecare LLC closed last week after state and federal authorities cut off its access to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement due to deficiencies cited by the Indiana State Department of Health.
WellPoint to add 100-plus local jobs for new Medicare contract
WellPoint Inc.’s National Government Services unit will add more than 100 jobs in Indianapolis beginning late this year or early next after the health insurance giant won a new contract with the federal Medicare program.
WellPoint dragged into Goldman Sachs suit
WellPoint Inc.’s $4.9 billion offer for Virginia-based Amerigroup Inc. apparently wasn’t the only—or even the most lucrative—offer for the Medicaid managed care company. But it was the deal surest to come to fruition before a key deadline for a big payout for Goldman Sachs & Co., according to a shareholder lawsuit filed Aug. 16 against the Amerigroup board of directors.
Suburban hospitals charm patients
A little extra Medicare money will flow to suburban hospitals in the Indianapolis area, based on recent patient satisfaction scores. But hospitals in the core of Indianapolis—and hospitals that do significant amounts of teaching medical students—may take a hit.
Local providers join Medicare ACO program
Indiana University Health, as well as a partnership of Franciscan Alliance and American Health Network, have formed accountable care organizations that won the blessing of the federal Medicare Shared Savings program.
WellPoint shares jump after $4.9B deal for Amerigroup
Investors and analysts like the fact that WellPoint is playing more aggressively in government-sponsored health plans, such as Medicaid and Medicare, which are projected to be the key sectors for growth for the next several years.
High court ruling opens Medicaid escape hatch for states
While upholding President Obama’s health care law, the U.S. Supreme Court may have created a way out for states that do not want to expand their Medicaid programs. Whether Indiana decides to opt out remains to be seen.
Analysis: How stocks will fare in ruling on health care law
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Affordable Care Act by the end of June. Here’s a roundup of how health care businesses would be affected under four different scenarios.
OBEIME: Poor, uninsured won’t monopolize resources
Myth prevents policymakers from attacking real problem of distributing funding.
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.
Hospitals push preemptive care with special programs
Hospitals around Indianapolis and the nation are expanding programs to help people before they become patients. They are trying to teach cooking as well as treat cancer, to do social work as well as do surgery.
Study: Indy hospitals charge ‘excess’ prices
The Big 3 automakers spent 35 percent more in the Indianapolis area to provide health care for workers and non-elderly retirees than they did in other auto-heavy cities—and two-thirds of that difference can be blamed on “excess prices” by Indianapolis hospitals.