DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ U.S. Appeals Court Sides With Drugmakers on Discount Program
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Anna Wilde Mathews | Joseph Walker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit Court of Appeals can be appealed. A U.S. appeals court ruled that pharmaceutical companies can limit their shipments of federally-discounted drugs to pharmacies, in a major win for the drugmakers and a blow to hospitals and clinics that receive the low-priced medicines. The ruling on Monday, by a three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit Court of Appeals, was in favor of drugmakers Sanofi SA, AstraZeneca PLC and Novo Nordisk A/S, and against the Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, which oversees the federal drug-discount program known as 340B.

☆ Elevance to Acquire Louisiana Nonprofit Health Insurer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elevance Health Inc. said it agreed to acquire the nonprofit health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, expanding its Blue business into a new state. Elevance, the parent of a major health insurer that offers an array of other health services as well, didn’t disclose terms of the deal in its Monday announcement. Spokeswomen for Elevance and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana declined to comment.

☆ UnitedHealth Revenue Climbs as Premiums Rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Dean Seal | Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

UnitedHealth is the first healthcare heavyweight to report earnings this season. UnitedHealth Group Inc. closed out 2022 with a fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth as both premiums and medical costs continue to rise. The healthcare and insurance company said Friday that revenue rose 12% to $82.79 billion, topping analyst expectations of $82.48 billion, according to FactSet.

A decades-old federal program that offered big drug discounts to a small number of hospitals to help low-income patients now benefits some of the most successful nonprofit health systems in the U.S. Under the program, hospitals buy drugs at reduced prices and sell them to patients and their insurers for much more, often at facilities in affluent communities.

☆ Nonprofit Health Plans With $6.8 Billion in Projected Revenue Set to Combine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Eric Hunter, left, the chief executive of CareOregon, would lead HealthRight’s Medicaid division. Sachin Jain, SCAN’s chief, would be CEO of the new company. Two nonprofit health plans focused on government-backed coverage are planning to combine in a deal that aims to create a sizable new player in the rapidly growing business of managed Medicare and Medicaid. SCAN Group, based in Long Beach, Calif., and CareOregon, of Portland, Ore., plan to join up under the new name HealthRight Group, they said.

Nonprofit hospitals must have financial-assistance policies for needy patients, under federal requirements tied to an estimated $60 billion in annual tax breaks. They often make that aid hard to get. Hospitals put up obstacles, delay checking eligibility and sometimes press for payments that aren’t refunded even if a patient eventually gets qualified for assistance.

☆ Employers’ Family Health Insurance Holds at About $22,000 in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Anna Wilde Mathews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The average cost of employer health coverage for a family this year is about $22,000, a figure similar to last year’s total, according to a new survey that shows upward pressure on healthcare costs hasn’t yet broadly translated into higher premiums. That will likely change next year, as insurers renegotiate contracts with hospitals and other medical providers that are seeking higher reimbursements to cover their own rising expenses for labor and other supplies.

☆ Judge Rejects Antitrust Challenge to UnitedHealth Acquisition
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-22 | by ( Anna Wilde Mathews | Brent Kendall | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The court’s decision is a win for UnitedHealth, which owns the largest U.S. health insurer and a sprawling healthcare operation that comprises thousands of doctors as well as clinics and valuable data. August 22, 2022, USA: UnitedHealth Group headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota. (Credit Image: Â© File/Minneapolis Star Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire)WASHINGTON—A federal judge Monday ruled against a Justice Department antitrust challenge to UnitedHealth Group $13 billion acquisition of health-technology firm Change Healthcare rejecting government claims that the deal would unlawfully suppress competition and limit innovation in health-insurance markets. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols ruled for the companies in an opinion that he kept under seal for now because he said it “may contain competitively sensitive information.” The judge said he would release a redacted public version of the ruling in the coming days. In a one-page public order, he denied the Justice Department’s request to block the companies from completing the deal.

Heard on the StreetAmazon and other companies are trying to disrupt the giant, inefficient U.S. healthcare sector. They’ve made little headway but a crop of upstarts is offering industry giants a chance to buy their way in.

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade creates new challenges for employers and health insurers covering abortion services, especially whether and how to pay for travel to states where the procedure remains available. Companies including Starbucks Corp., Uber Technologies Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have said they would reimburse travel for medical services including abortion. Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V.’s Grubhub and Dick’s Sporting Goods said they would provide up to $4,000 to cover expenses traveling for services not available in their home state.

Search resuls for: "Anna Wilde Mathews"

11 mentions found