medical costs news from FierceHealthFinance
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Costs for bariatric surgery decline
Here's a sign that bariatric surgery as a discipline is maturing: The average rate of post-surgical and other complications for patients undergoing bariatric surgery--and thus, the cost of their... Read more...
If health plan profits keep falling, selloffs may begin
Health plan profits are falling, and given the trends in the U.S. economy and healthcare costs generally, this trend is likely to linger for a while. And if falling profits remain a fact of life for... Read more...
WellCare shares plunge
WellCare Health Plans, already under investigation by far too many state and federal agencies, initially reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would be unable to file past... Read more...
WellPoint pushes stock prices up, but not profits, by raising premiums
Five months ago, Angela Braly, the CEO of health plan giant WellPoint, told investors that the plan could turn around falling profits by Read more...
Second quarter profits may be just a reprieve
Well, it looks like it's been a nice quarter for hospital companies and health plans, several of which have turned in profitable second-quarter results. This is particularly striking given that a... Read more...
St. Louis hospitals dispute coalition's capacity numbers
The way the St. Louis Business Health Coalition tells it, the region's prosperous hospitals have been engaging in billion-dollar building projects--such as cancer centers, heart hospitals and patient... Read more...
Health plans need new approaches to profitability
Now I get it. To get back their healthy profits--which have taken a serious plunge of late--all U.S. health plans have to do is a) raise premiums and b) lower reimbursements for providers. Easy as... Read more...
Health plans to boost premiums, squeeze providers
As readers know, several leading health plans have taken a profitability beating over the last several months, for reasons that include operational issues, medical costs and losses in the financial... Read more...
Fear and trembling in health plan land
Well, this week caps it. It seems like we're looking at just about a clean sweep where bad-news health plan financials are concerned: UnitedHealth Group, Humana, Cigna, WellPoint, Kaiser and... Read more...
