Health News
- Politicians, Economists And Journalists Debate The Reasons For, And The Impact Of, Proposed Sale Of Humana To Aetna
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The purchase of Louisville-based Humana Inc. by fellow health-insurance giant Aetna Inc. for $37 billion still needs approval from federal anti-trust officials, partly because of the possibility that the merger will reduce...
- Aetna Is Close To A Deal To Buy Humana, Bloomberg Reports
Getty Images, via CNBCHealth insurer Aetna "is said to be closing in on a deal to buy" Louisville-based Humana Inc., Julie Hyman reports for Bloomberg News, "and a deal could come "as soon as this weekend." Humana is also expecting an offer from Cigna...
- Merger Mania: Aetna Bids For Humana; Cigna May Want It Too; Anthem Has Bid For Cigna; Unitedhealth Makes A Play For Aetna
Aetna Inc. has made a bid to buy Louisville-based Humana Inc.,"one of a number of recent moves by big health insurers to find merger partners," Dana Mattioli and Liz Hoffman report for The Wall Street Journal. The proposal was made in "the last few days,"...
- Ashland Hospital Agrees To Pay $40.9 Million To Settle Charges It Defrauded Medicare And Medicaid For Six Years
"King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland has agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle allegations that it fraudulently billed federally-funded health care programs for hundreds of unnecessary heart procedures" from 2006 through 2011, Bill Estep reports...
- State And School Employees And Retirees Hit Obstacles When Seeking Mental Health Treatment; Doctor Blames Humana
State government and school employees in Kentucky have trouble seeing a psychiatrist because of Humana Inc.'s low reimbursement rates and unrealistic requests for paperwork, an op-ed piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader contends. Humana manages the...
Health News
Feds investigating possibility that Humana overbilled taxpayers for Medicare Advantage; firm says it reported information
Louisville-based "Humana Inc. faces multiple federal investigations into allegations that it overbilled the government for treating elderly patients enrolled in its Medicare Advantage plans, court records reveal." So reports Fred Schulte of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit, inevstigative news agency.
"The status of the investigations is not clear, but they apparently involve several branches of the Justice Department," Schulte reports, adding that federal prosecutors said in a document filed in March that they expect at least one of the investigations will be completed ?in the next few months.?
Federal prosecutors in West Palm Beach have "opened a criminal case involving overbilling allegations that the government says is similar to the Miami investigation," Schulte writes. "Meanwhile, the criminal division of the Justice Department in Washington has reviewed fraud allegations against the company, according to court records. Humana, which insures more than 2 million people through the Medicare Advantage plans, is also the target of two Florida whistleblower civil lawsuits that allege similar overcharges."
Humana spokesman Tom Noland told Schulte that the company has made ?several public disclosures about these matters over a long period of time? and ?self-reported? them several years ago, but ?Humana to our knowledge is not the subject of any criminal investigation.? (Read more)
"The status of the investigations is not clear, but they apparently involve several branches of the Justice Department," Schulte reports, adding that federal prosecutors said in a document filed in March that they expect at least one of the investigations will be completed ?in the next few months.?
Federal prosecutors in West Palm Beach have "opened a criminal case involving overbilling allegations that the government says is similar to the Miami investigation," Schulte writes. "Meanwhile, the criminal division of the Justice Department in Washington has reviewed fraud allegations against the company, according to court records. Humana, which insures more than 2 million people through the Medicare Advantage plans, is also the target of two Florida whistleblower civil lawsuits that allege similar overcharges."
Humana spokesman Tom Noland told Schulte that the company has made ?several public disclosures about these matters over a long period of time? and ?self-reported? them several years ago, but ?Humana to our knowledge is not the subject of any criminal investigation.? (Read more)
- Politicians, Economists And Journalists Debate The Reasons For, And The Impact Of, Proposed Sale Of Humana To Aetna
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The purchase of Louisville-based Humana Inc. by fellow health-insurance giant Aetna Inc. for $37 billion still needs approval from federal anti-trust officials, partly because of the possibility that the merger will reduce...
- Aetna Is Close To A Deal To Buy Humana, Bloomberg Reports
Getty Images, via CNBCHealth insurer Aetna "is said to be closing in on a deal to buy" Louisville-based Humana Inc., Julie Hyman reports for Bloomberg News, "and a deal could come "as soon as this weekend." Humana is also expecting an offer from Cigna...
- Merger Mania: Aetna Bids For Humana; Cigna May Want It Too; Anthem Has Bid For Cigna; Unitedhealth Makes A Play For Aetna
Aetna Inc. has made a bid to buy Louisville-based Humana Inc.,"one of a number of recent moves by big health insurers to find merger partners," Dana Mattioli and Liz Hoffman report for The Wall Street Journal. The proposal was made in "the last few days,"...
- Ashland Hospital Agrees To Pay $40.9 Million To Settle Charges It Defrauded Medicare And Medicaid For Six Years
"King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland has agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle allegations that it fraudulently billed federally-funded health care programs for hundreds of unnecessary heart procedures" from 2006 through 2011, Bill Estep reports...
- State And School Employees And Retirees Hit Obstacles When Seeking Mental Health Treatment; Doctor Blames Humana
State government and school employees in Kentucky have trouble seeing a psychiatrist because of Humana Inc.'s low reimbursement rates and unrealistic requests for paperwork, an op-ed piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader contends. Humana manages the...