Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Though they won't implement this change immediately, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans have decided that they won't pay for serious errors and "never events" like wrong surgical procedures and... Read more...

In the past, up to 40 percent of North Carolina heart attack victims who needed clot-busting drugs or angioplasty weren't getting them--or got treated too late. However, over the past two years, a... Read more...

Here's an interesting take on health plan cost-cutting. Hoping to lower imaging expenses, Ohio's Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is arming its physicians with quality and cost information on its... Read more...

After two years, the ratio of physicians to consumers in the New Orleans area finally seems to be getting back to normal, according to a new report. However, health care still isn't as accessible as... Read more...

A new program which classified the severity of pediatric asthma, put a self-management plan into place and gave out appropriate medication that dramatically improved the number of pediatric asthma... Read more...

> California hospitals, clinics and nursing homes are facing big problems because the state hasn't approved its budget, delaying their Medi-Cal payments indefinitely. Read more...

> General Electric Co. has ended its effort to acquire Abbott Laboratories' in-vitro and point of care diagnostics businesses, which had 2006 sales of $2.7 billion. Read more...

> Shareholders have approved the $5.1 billion sale of Triad Hospitals to Community Health Systems. The combined company will operate more than 140 facilities in 28 states. Article

> Working with the N.C. State Health Plan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has doled out $800,000 in pay-for-performance bonuses. …

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WellPoint's finance chief has been pushed out of the company, accused of unspecified financial improprieties. Effective immediately, WellPoint senior vice president and chief accounting officer Wayne DeVeydt will take over as executive vice president and CFO. The company demanded that CFO David Colby resign after it concluded that Colby had violated the company's code of conduct. This came despite Colby's having been promoted only two months ago to vice chairman.

The company …

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Hanging tough in the face of furious physician criticism, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has kicked off a program allowing beneficiaries to compare physician ratings. The health plan is the largest in the state, with more than 40,000 participating physician and 3.4 million beneficiaries, so its decisions have a significant effect on the market as a whole, making the ratings a major issue for the state's doctors.

The BCBS quality score currently uses 38 measures, and will add …

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