The employer wellness space is getting more and more complex. The sector includes 8,000 companies with the largest player owning a scant 6 percent of the market, according to one industry insider. One segment where Healthcare Interactive hopes to dominate is benefit management adjudication. It is using the first venture investment it’s received to expand […]
Startups and established companies in the telehealth space will be excited to hear that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid has proposed expanding telehealth benefits for Medicare recipients, according to an update of the physician fee schedule for 2015 published online the eve of the holiday weekend. The proposal would add annual wellness visits, psychoanalysis, […]
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Like a lot of healthcare entrepreneurs, Dr. Marcel Muenster initiated the development of a matchmaking service for doctors and travelers, Travedoc, when he got sick. After a six-day bout with food poisoning on a 10-day vacation in Hong Kong, Meunster said he appreciated the need to have a service that makes it easier for people […]
ZocDoc has tweaked its business model. It’s moving beyond the direct-to-consumer market to get a slice of the $600 billion employer wellness market as well, according to a company statement. Employers have been increasingly keen to work with health IT companies to better manage their healthcare costs. Until now its revenue has come from small […]
Startup health insurer Oscar chose Tumblr as its social media venue of choice to announce that it raised $80 million in a Series A round. Forbes broke the story earlier today. It kind of makes sense since Oscar’s chief technology officer is Fredrik Nylander, who was vice president of engineering and operations at Tumblr. […]
The enrollment deadline for Obamacare may have come and gone, but for anyone who loses a job, has a reduction in salary, gets married or divorced, these life changing events generate a need for a change in insurance. Healthcare industry veteran Sally Poblete who founded Wellthie, wants to help consumers and employees navigate the complexities […]
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Despite a surge in enrollment in the two weeks before the April 15 deadline to enroll for insurance under the health law, many more Californians have not signed up. And they’re unlikely to. Many people are uninterested in health insurance, confused or skeptical. Scott Belsha from Long Beach, Calif., works as a drummer and carpenter. […]
Q. How will we prove to the government that we have health insurance? A. Until the income tax forms for next year are available, exactly what people will be required to report is unclear. However, it’s likely that “people will be asked for information about coverage and attest to it in the same way they […]
POLSON, Mont. — The names of the big health insurance companies are familiar – Blue Cross, Aetna, United Healthcare. But what about CoOportunity Health, or Health Republic Insurance of New York? These are among 23 new health insurance companies that started under the Affordable Care Act. They’re all nonprofit, member-owned cooperatives, and the aim is to create more competition […]
If you’re uninsured, you may have run out of time. Yesterday was the formal deadline to sign up for health insurance on the marketplaces or face a penalty, unless you were already “in-line” for enrollment. Still, people who missed the cutoff or couldn’t buy insurance have options to get the health care services they need. But doing so may not be […]
We will highlight Build My Health's revenue practice management tools, which could help physician practices add up to $250,000 to their practices.
Federal officials are considering new Medicare Advantage rules to help protect seniors when insurers make significant reductions to their networks of doctors and other health care providers. The proposals follow UnitedHealthcare’s decision to drop thousands of doctors from its Medicare Advantage plans in at least 10 states last fall. The government’s response is part of […]
Employer wellness plans are gaining wider acceptance as a way to help employees manage their health. There doesn’t seem to be a corporate standard, so the level of information employees are asked to volunteer varies. One employee at CVS Caremark thinks at least some of the questions violate her privacy and has filed a lawsuit […]
Follow MedCity News on TWITTER, LINKEDIN, FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE+ for even more content on innovation in healthcare. UnitedHealth’s acquisition play for Audax Health is the latest in a series of efforts by payers to develop consumer technology in-house, through acquisition or strategic partnerships to help members do a better job of managing their own health, […]
by Al Lewis and Vik Khanna Quite literally the only provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to receive enthusiastic bipartisan support at the time of passage was workplace wellness, nicknamed the “Safeway Amendment” because Safeway (erroneously, as it turned out) claimed to have reduced healthcare spending by 40% through workplace wellness. And, also quite […]
Healthcare reform is encouraging a lot of experimentation with health insurance, particularly as payers try to reduce healthcare costs, particularly among patients with chronic conditions. A new study led by West Health Policy Center, with researchers from Harvard University Medical School and the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, will explore the feasibility […]