Indiana reports second death from COVID-19
A Johnson County patient who had been hospitalized has died from COVID-19. It is the second death in Indiana.
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Legislation aimed at reducing health care costs passes, but impact could be weak
Despite lengthy debates on reducing health care costs this year, Indiana lawmakers eliminated the provision business leaders said was likely to have the most impact.
Tax Court affirms Evansville rehab center falls under 3% tax cap
An Evansville temporary inpatient rehab center is not considered to be either a long-term care property or a residential property, the Indiana Tax Court affirmed Tuesday. As such, the property owner’s tax liability was required to be computed using the 3% property tax cap.
Coronavirus impacting Indiana courts, law firms, schools
The Indiana legal community is taking precautions and ramping up efforts to stay healthy as the coronavirus spreads. Meanwhile, Faegre Drinker announced Wednesday that it had reopened most of its offices Wednesday, including its Indianapolis location. The firm had closed all 22 of its global offices Tuesday after a person who attend a firm event in Washington, D.C., tested positive for COVID-19.
State total of COVID-19 cases rises to 10 after 3 test positive in Johnson County
The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday said the number of presumptive positive cases for COVID-19 has risen to 10 in the state after the emergence of four more cases, including three cases in Johnson County.
Justices split on denial of transfer to med-mal wrongful death case
The Indiana Supreme Court has split in the denial of transfer in a case involving a fatal altercation between a psychiatric patient and a caregiver, with two justices dissenting from the holding that ensuing wrongful-death litigation should be brought under the Medical Malpractice Act.
Indiana hospital bill proposal rolled back amid protest
Indiana lawmakers on Monday rolled back a proposal that could cut how much insurance companies pay for medical services performed at offices located away from a hospital’s main campus.
Supreme Court will decide fate of Obama health care law
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide a lawsuit that threatens the Obama-era health care law, but the decision is not likely until after the 2020 election.
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.
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.
Fetal remains bill heading to House floor
The Indiana House of Representatives was scheduled to hear a bill Monday that deals with the disposal of fetal remains, building on a similar provision in an abortion law the state passed in 2016 and was subsequently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Deceased inmate’s estate case against DOC reinstated on appeal
The estate of an inmate who died in the Indiana Department of Corrections from complications arising from lupus and a blood clotting disorder had its case reinstated Monday against the DOC and its medical services contractor.
SCOTUS considering South Bend abortion clinic case without evidence of clinic corrections
The bid to take yet another Indiana abortion case to the United States Supreme Court will proceed without evidence of a South Bend abortion clinic’s efforts to correct state licensing violations. The procedural ruling comes as the nation’s highest court is set to consider the case in conference Friday.
Lawmakers considering central Indiana regionalism legislation
Indiana lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the communities in central Indiana to create a regional development authority, but the framework isn’t exactly what advocates initially proposed.
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.
Law schools, firms watch coronavirus outbreak
Law firms with offices and law schools with programs in China have been proactive in response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak. For example, Dentons has temporarily closed its office in Wuhan and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP told Indiana Lawyer it has closed some offices in China. Law schools in the state have suspended all staff and faculty travel to China.
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.
Appellate judges rule for hospital in medical malpractice case
A man who filed a medical malpractice claim against a doctor and hospital following his surgery for a herniated disc could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that he should be permitted to amend his complaint and add a federal claim.
Fetal remains found at Illinois properties buried in South Bend
More than 2,000 sets of fetal remains found last year at the suburban Chicago garage of one of the Midwest’s most prolific abortion doctors were buried Wednesday at an Indiana cemetery where the state’s attorney general told a gathering that the remains’ discovery was “horrifying to anyone with normal sensibilities.”