PacifiCare

An article in the Los Angeles Times looks at the information gap that prevents patients from effective comparison shopping when making their healthcare choices. The most onerous catch-22 of the consumer-driven healthcare plan movement is well known by those who follow the industry: In order to make more informed decisions, customers need better access to information. For the most part, that information just isn't there. That has led to a number of well-publicized efforts to …

> Membership grows at Aetna and PacifiCare, which both reported reasonably positive third-quarter results Thursday. Article 

> Following an article in JAMA criticizing the methodology used in submitting
data to the FDA, Bristol-Myers Squibb may withdraw Pargluva. …

The nation's largest health plan in terms of market cap continues to put up dominant numbers. UnitedHealth Group said its third-quarter revenue climbed 15 percent to $11.3 billion and net income rose 21 percent to $842 million. The performance impressed analysts who had been expecting slightly lower earnings. The big story of the quarter for UnitedHealth, of course, is the PacifiCare merger, which is expected to give the company a big boost, assuming the deal overcomes objections from …

A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that pay-for-performance may not performing quite as well in real life as some health policy wonks had predicted. The two-year study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health compared the use of pay-for-performance at physician practices affiliated with PacifiCare in California with practices in the Pacific Northwest which do not use incentive programs. Clinical quality scores for …

Health insurer WellPoint is in talks to acquire New York-based WellChoice, the parent of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, according to media reports. A deal has not yet been reached, but the terms of the transaction are said to be in the neighborhood of $6.5 billion in cash and stock. Industry analysts see the offer as a response to UnitedHealth Group's $8.14 billion acquisition of PacifiCare this summer. The deal would give WellPoint a strong presence on the east coast and put the company …

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services selected the companies which will be allowed to market their own versions of Medicare Part D. They include: Aetna, Connecticut General, Memberhealth Inc., Pacificare, Silverscript, Unicare, United Health Care Insurance Company and Wellcare Health Plans.The Part D calendar as it stands now: The marketing phase (possibly the ugly part) is set to start October 1st. Enrollment begins Nov. 15. The benefit itself officially goes live Jan. 1st. …

> The Department of Health and Human Services says it has reached terms with Sanofi-Aventis on a deal which will see the French pharma company produce its experimental HN51 vaccine. Story

> Private equity firm Blackstone is paying $1.7 billion for specialist health insurer UICI. Story

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Some Californians are worried that the UnitedHealth-PacifiCare merger could lead to higher premiums and might end up limiting their healthcare choices. California's Department of Managed Care held hearings yesterday in Santa Ana to investigate the likely impact of the deal. Critics say customers are likely to end up footing the bill for the $300 million in bonuses scheduled for executives at PacifiCare. Representatives for UnitedHealth denied that the merger would have any impact on the …

> The impact of UnitedHealth's merger with PacifiCare is examined in the Las Vegas Journal Review. Story

> HIT: Misys announces the launch of a web portal for physicians steering patients to consumer-directed programs. Release

> MedTech: Boston …

Insurer Aetna is expected to publish the prices it has negotiated with doctors in Cincinnati on its website in a trial of a possible nationwide program. The move makes Aetna the first major insurer to make its prices public, a major change in an industry where exact pricing information has been almost impossible for consumers to come by. If adopted by other insurers, experts say, the move could put pressure on doctors to lower their prices. Aetna will publish price schedules for about 600 …