Lawmakers consider hospital billing regulations
As Indiana lawmakers wrestle with various ideas to reduce health care costs, one proposal that business groups say would have an immediate impact has drawn opposition from hospitals.
Health Care Costs
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Some doctors worried by Indiana ‘surprise’ billing proposal
Some Indiana doctors are raising fears about possible loss of emergency services under a plan to limit “surprise” medical bills that can plague patients who have been unknowingly treated by providers from outside their insurance networks.
State aims to extend Healthy Indiana Plan
Indiana has submitted a request for a 10-year extension of its Medicaid alternative program, the Healthy Indiana Plan, and still included is the suspended work requirement that was imposed on some enrollees in the public assistance program but is currently under review by the courts.
Controlling costly care: Lawmakers weigh surprise billing, transparency legislation
The idea of increasing health care affordability and cost transparency has received bipartisan support, but the devil has been in the details. Even so, federal lawmakers feel confident Congress will enact legislation to end surprise billing this year, while Indiana lawmakers say they’re committed to creating state solutions to drive down Hoosier health care costs.
Medicaid changes could have big state consequences
Nearly one in five Hoosiers is on Medicaid, a program that pays for medical care, hospitalization, drugs, skilled nursing and other services for low-income and disabled people. But the future of the program is now up in the air after the Trump administration announced in January it would allow states to add eligibility requirements, benefit changes and drug-coverage limits.
Community Health accused of improper Medicare claims in federal lawsuit
The United States government has filed a complaint against Community Health Network, alleging the central Indiana health care system submitted false claims to the Medicare program. Community, however, is calling the claims “meritless.”
Justices seem to favor insurers’ Obamacare claims for $12B
The US Supreme Court appeared likely Tuesday to rule that insurance companies can collect $12 billion from the federal government to cover their losses in the early years of the health care law championed by President Barack Obama.
Teacher pay, health care costs to feature in 2020 legislative debate
With the start of the 2020 legislative session about a month away, party leaders are formulating their plans for the short session, with teacher pay continuing to be a point of contention.
Tax Court denies charitable tax exemptions for medical center
The Indiana Tax Court has affirmed the denial of a Catholic nonprofit organization’s request for charitable tax exemption on a medical center it owns, finding none of its provided evidence supported its request.
Indiana lawmakers pushed to adopt e-cigarette liquids tax
Indiana needs state taxes to discourage the use of electronic cigarettes as vaping becomes more popular and is increasingly blamed in illnesses and deaths, the state’s main physicians organization and other health advocates said Tuesday.
New study: Opioid crisis cost US economy $631B over 4 years
The opioid crisis cost the U.S. economy $631 billion from 2015 through last year — and it may keep getting more expensive, according to a study released Tuesday by the Society of Actuaries.
Overhaul proposed for decades-old Medicare fraud rules
The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed overhauling decades-old Medicare rules originally meant to deter fraud and abuse but now seen as a roadblock to coordinating better care for patients. Two former Indiana health care industry professionals are leading the proposed reforms.
ILS joins effort to block Indiana’s Medicaid work requirements
A lawsuit challenging Indiana’s work requirements for Medicaid recipients, which according to the state’s own estimates would result in roughly 24,000 people losing health care coverage each year, was filed in federal court Monday.
Anthem sued by doctors in dispute over emergency room coverage
The health insurer Anthem Inc. was sued by doctors in Georgia for declining to pay for some emergency room care, escalating a long-running battle over how far insurance plans can go to push patients to seek lower-cost treatment. It’s the latest legal challenge over a change in policy that Indianapolis-based Anthem says was designed to cut down on patients going to an emergency room in situations that don’t require it.