Chris Anderson
WellPoint Inc., the second largest health insurer in the country, today reported fourth quarter and 2012 earnings that beat analysts' estimates, driven primarily by medical expenditures that were lower than the company expected.
Highmark Inc., West Penn Allegheny Health System and a selected number of West Penn bondholders announced on Wednesday they had reached a financial settlement that would allow for a reduction in the debt load of the WPAHS and allow the proposed merger of Highmark and ailing health system to proceed.
UnitedHealth Group reported 2012 earnings this morning of more than $5.5 billion on $110.6 billion in revenue, an 8 percent increase in earnings and 9 percent increase in gross revenue from 2011.
A new healthcare commission announced last week will focus on developing state-level policies aimed at reducing the cost of care while improving quality.
An analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that for the third consecutive year, healthcare spending grew in 2011 by 3.9 percent or a total of $2.7 trillion, the lowest growth rate recorded since CMS began tracking healthcare spending in 1960.
Under the two-month patch approved by the House and Senate on January 1 to avert the "fiscal cliff" Congress has permanently cut more than $1.4 billion in funding that was earmarked to help consumer operated and oriented (CO-OP) health plans become established in all 50 states.
Insurers looking to compete in the ever-changing healthcare marketplace will continue to focus on technology in 2013 as a means of improving payment models and partnerships with provider groups and as the industry looks to make the transition to consumer-focused products it will offer on health insurance exchanges.
Despite objections of a large block of fiscally conservative Republicans, the House yesterday approved a fiscal cliff compromise crafted in the Senate in the first hours of the new year by a vote of 257 to 167, which also averted steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors for yet another year.
New research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that employees enrolled in a Consumer Directed Health Plan (CDHP) are more likely than members of traditional health plans to exhibit cost-conscious behaviors including doing additional research on healthcare costs.
Insurer Florida Blue and the Moffitt Cancer Center on Thursday announced the creation of an accountable care program that will focus on the treatment of cancer.