Month: August 2012

In what could be a surprising and growing trend, one of the Midwest’s largest providers of medical care is bringing a price guarantee to a new concept being pushed by the Obama administration that rewards doctors and hospitals for working together to improve quality. Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care has formed an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) that is working with Aetna Inc. (AET) and Wellpoint (WLP) subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin that are packaging commercial health insurance products using Aurora doctors and hospitals that offer small and mid-sized businesses a “price guarantee.” (FORBES, 8/21)

After seeing the state cut payment rates in 2011 and then again this year, UnitedHealthcare has opted to end its contract with the state to oversee care for 174,000 people insured through the BadgerCare Plus program in southeastern Wisconsin.UnitedHealthcare will end its contract on Oct. 31. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/20)

Two people connected to the Wisconsin State Fair, a worker and a swine exhibitor, were infected with the variant H3N2v influenza virus, state health officials said Thursday. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/17)

Connecture Inc., a Brookfield company that develops software for the insurance industry, said it has raised $20 million in additional funding from two private investment firms. Great Point Partners LLC, a private investment firm based in Greenwich, Conn., will invest $18 million in the company, said Doug Schneider, chief executive of Connecture. Chrysalis Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Louisville, Ky., and an existing investor, will invest an additional $2 million. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/17)

With a former HHS secretary now on the ballot, the race for an open Senate seat in Wisconsin -- home state of Mitt Romney running mate Paul Ryan -- could well turn into a referendum on healthcare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a political expert in the state says. (MEDPAGE TODAY, 8/16)

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin will offer a health plan that guarantees savings for employers if workers and their families use Aurora Health Care's network of hospitals and doctors for nearly all their care. Aurora announced a similar agreement last month with Aetna Inc. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/15)

La Crosse has drawn national and international attention for the community's work to improve end-of-life care for people with serious illnesses. Bernard "Bud" Hammes is director of medical humanities and Respecting Choices, a program that focuses on the process of advance care planning, at Gundersen Health System and Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/14)

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's proposals to revamp Medicare confront an economic reality: The rise in health care spending threatens the country's fiscal future. Ryan's approach - which has evolved in recent years - is the most controversial provision in his broad plan for reining in federal spending and lowering the budget deficit. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/13)