WHN Stories
Blue Cross Blue Shield posts 14 percent profit in 2011
The Blues finished 2011 well in the black. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield led the state’s top insurers last year with a 14.1 percent profit margin. (WHN, 5/17)
Smith rejects claim that Family Care is in trouble, ready to ask for third extension
The Department of Health Services is preparing to ask for a third extension of its Family Care waiver, state officials said Tuesday. The announcement comes after Representative Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, and other Democrats chastised Secretary Dennis Smith for keeping them in the dark about a March 28 letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlining a list of conditions the state must address to continue receiving federal funding beyond May 14. (WHN, 5/9)
LogistiCare problems not going away, according to providers
Late rides, missed appointments and drivers not having – or not returning – durable medical equipment like wheelchairs, are among the issues providers say they continue to have with LogistiCare, the state’s Medicaid transportation manager. (WHN, 5/8)
Democrats call on DHS to open BadgerCare Plus Core Plan
A pair of Democratic state lawmakers are asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to examine whether the state’s continued cap on BadgerCare Plus Core violates its waiver or the federal health reform law’s maintenance of effort requirements. (WHN, 5/1)
Sebelius: HHS will not waive maintenance of effort requirements for any state
The Department of Health and Human Services is not waiving the federal health reform law’s maintenance of effort requirements for Wisconsin. And it won’t do it for any other state either, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at an event in Madison Wednesday. (WHN, 4/12)
HHS says Time’s 24 percent rate hike is unreasonable
A 24 percent rate increase by Time Insurance Company for nearly 17,000 individuals in Wisconsin is “unreasonable,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday. (WHN, 4/12)
HIRSP CEO: Federal high risk pools could serve as warning for what will happen if mandate is struck down
High risk pools put in place by the federal health reform law could shed light on what might happen if the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate but leaves the rest of the law in place, HIRSP CEO Amie Goldman told Wisconsin Health News. (WHN, 4/6)
2012 County Health Rankings set for release on April 3
On Tuesday April 3, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute will release their annual County Health Rankings. The initiative began at UW in 2004, measuring only Wisconsin. It soon gained the attention of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, however, and with their help spread to all 50 states. Wisconsin Health News recently caught up with the project directors – Dr. Pat Remington and Bridget Catlin – to talk about this year’s rankings. In a wide-ranging interview, the UW leaders discussed their decision to rank the counties by state, pushback they’ve received from ‘unhealthy’ counties, and a shot out on Saturday Night Live. (WHN, 3/30)
Competing health systems launch regional partnership
Seven health systems and the Medical College of Wisconsin are banding together to collaborate on an “accountable care strategy” and other health care initiatives. Under the arrangement, the groups will act as a single integrated entity, according to Quality Health Solutions CEO Peter Pruessing, who is also an executive vice president at Froedtert Health. (WHN, 3/20)
Kohl introduces bill aimed at improving safety of medical devices
The Food and Drug Administration would tighten its oversight of medical devices under legislation Senator Herb Kohl, D-WI, introduced last week. (WHN, 3/20)
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