WellPoint news from FierceHealthFinance
News
SPOTLIGHT: WellPoint says advances in medical tech drives costs
A new report from WellPoint's Institute of Healthcare Knowledge suggests that advances in medical technology could be the main driver of increasing healthcare costs--not health plan profits. (Wonder... Read more...
Trend: Insurers, banks creating more HSAs as industry grows
The money coming from the "health/wealth" market is expected to increase over the coming years: Some experts predict the market could reach $40 billion in the next five years. That's not surprising,... 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...
NJ Blue change to for-profit could prompt wave of followers
Right now, executives with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey are nervously waiting to find out whether the state attorney general and insurance commissioner will let it convert itself from... 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...
WellPoint loses money for Q2, but still pleases investors
Giant health plan WellPoint had what most financial types would consider a tough second quarter, with earnings falling 10 percent and its overall profit predictions for 2008 falling. Still, given... Read more...
WellPoint pays hospitals $11.8M to settle bills from rescissions
Leading health plan WellPoint has agreed to pay $11.8 million to settle claims with hundreds of hospitals that it failed to pay after it dropped patients after treatment. WellPoint was sued by about... 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...
