Humana

Despite claims to the contrary, veterans have often been forced to wait 30 days or more for care at VA hospitals, and many more may not be on its electronic waiting lists, according to a recently... Read more...

> Humana has set plans to buy life and health insurer KMG America Corp for about $188 million. Read more...

Concerned about several health insurers' decision to rate and rank physicians, a Texas medical group has decided to fire back with ratings on insurers. The Harris County Medical Society, working with... Read more...

> Humana acquired an Atlanta-based dental and vision benefits company for $360 million. The company, CompBenefits Corp., serves about 14,000 employer groups in 22 states. Read more...

When talk of retail clinics first emerged, most assumed that their primary business would be cash-based. After all, if you're going to charge low prices, you might not want to take on the expense of collecting insurance reimbursement. But for many retail clinic operators, that's not how its shaping up. The most recent example comes from RediClinic, which has just announced that it will accept traditional Medicare coverage at its 46 U.S. locations. The company already has contracts in …

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It may be starting as a small division, but it could become something big quickly. Hoping to get its piece of the agency's massive budget, Humana has created a unit which will help the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs care for veterans who are eligible for its benefits. Humana already gets roughly three quarters of its premium revenue from government sources, largely from CMS. Now it wants more government income. To jump start the new division, Humana Veterans Healthcare Services, it …

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Apparently happy with its existing results, Aetna has set plans to include more providers in its pay-for-performance program, expanding it out to family practice and internal medicine physicians based in Washington state. It already offers the program in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Louisville, Ky., Maryland, Washington, DC and northern Virginia. Aetna's P4P program bases its standards on guidelines from the NCQA, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and American Stroke …

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BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has become the latest health plan to address a key issue with high-deductible plans. Following in the steps of peers like UnitedHealth, the Blue plan has created a pilot program under which providers can find out, in real time, how much a patient owes, and collect on the spot. The pilot, which is already live in …

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Humana CEO Michael B. McCallister is on a whistle-stop tour of the U.S., preaching a not-too-surprising gospel of health reform. The key to his pitch? That everyone involved in the health system, including employers, doctors, hospitals, consumers, and yes, insurers, needs to act smarter. Article

Hoping to lower costs of running its public health care programs, the state of Connecticut is kicking off a series of disease management programs. The programs, which will be administered by the state Department of Social Services, will focus on patients with chronic, high-risk conditions such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure. Connecticut is just one of about 40 states which are planning or implementing programs targeting high-cost chronic illnesses, according to Governor M. …

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