Lawmakers consider hospital billing regulations
As Indiana lawmakers wrestle with various ideas to reduce health care costs, one proposal that business groups say would have an immediate impact has drawn opposition from hospitals.
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Some doctors worried by Indiana ‘surprise’ billing proposal
Some Indiana doctors are raising fears about possible loss of emergency services under a plan to limit “surprise” medical bills that can plague patients who have been unknowingly treated by providers from outside their insurance networks.
Fetal remains bill heading to House floor
The Indiana House of Representatives was scheduled to hear a bill Monday that deals with the disposal of fetal remains, building on a similar provision in an abortion law the state passed in 2016 and was subsequently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Deceased inmate’s estate case against DOC reinstated on appeal
The estate of an inmate who died in the Indiana Department of Corrections from complications arising from lupus and a blood clotting disorder had its case reinstated Monday against the DOC and its medical services contractor.
SCOTUS considering South Bend abortion clinic case without evidence of clinic corrections
The bid to take yet another Indiana abortion case to the United States Supreme Court will proceed without evidence of a South Bend abortion clinic’s efforts to correct state licensing violations. The procedural ruling comes as the nation’s highest court is set to consider the case in conference Friday.
Lawmakers considering central Indiana regionalism legislation
Indiana lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the communities in central Indiana to create a regional development authority, but the framework isn’t exactly what advocates initially proposed.
State aims to extend Healthy Indiana Plan
Indiana has submitted a request for a 10-year extension of its Medicaid alternative program, the Healthy Indiana Plan, and still included is the suspended work requirement that was imposed on some enrollees in the public assistance program but is currently under review by the courts.
Controlling costly care: Lawmakers weigh surprise billing, transparency legislation
The idea of increasing health care affordability and cost transparency has received bipartisan support, but the devil has been in the details. Even so, federal lawmakers feel confident Congress will enact legislation to end surprise billing this year, while Indiana lawmakers say they’re committed to creating state solutions to drive down Hoosier health care costs.
Law schools, firms watch coronavirus outbreak
Law firms with offices and law schools with programs in China have been proactive in response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak. For example, Dentons has temporarily closed its office in Wuhan and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP told Indiana Lawyer it has closed some offices in China. Law schools in the state have suspended all staff and faculty travel to China.
Medicaid changes could have big state consequences
Nearly one in five Hoosiers is on Medicaid, a program that pays for medical care, hospitalization, drugs, skilled nursing and other services for low-income and disabled people. But the future of the program is now up in the air after the Trump administration announced in January it would allow states to add eligibility requirements, benefit changes and drug-coverage limits.
Appellate judges rule for hospital in medical malpractice case
A man who filed a medical malpractice claim against a doctor and hospital following his surgery for a herniated disc could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that he should be permitted to amend his complaint and add a federal claim.
Fetal remains found at Illinois properties buried in South Bend
More than 2,000 sets of fetal remains found last year at the suburban Chicago garage of one of the Midwest’s most prolific abortion doctors were buried Wednesday at an Indiana cemetery where the state’s attorney general told a gathering that the remains’ discovery was “horrifying to anyone with normal sensibilities.”
More than 2,400 fetuses found at Illinois home to be buried
In what’s sure to be a politically charged ceremony, more than 2,400 fetuses found last year at the suburban Chicago home of one of the Midwest’s most prolific abortion doctors will be buried Wednesday in Indiana, a state with some of the nation’s toughest anti-abortion laws.
Memorial service set for fetal remains connected to ex-abortion doctor
Thousands of fetal remains discovered on property owned by the late former Indiana abortion doctor Ulrich Klopfer will be memorialized at a graveside service in South Bend on Wednesday.
Newburgh man pleads guilty to abusing elderly disabled man
A southwestern Indiana man has pleaded guilty to charges that he put an elderly disabled man in a headlock and otherwise abused him while working as his caregiver in 2017.
Indiana lawmakers consider protections for pregnant workers
More Indiana businesses would have to allow pregnant women to take longer breaks, transfer to less physical work and take unpaid time off after childbirth under a proposal state lawmakers are considering.
Supreme Court rejects fast-track review of health care suit
The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to consider a fast-track review of a lawsuit that threatens the Obama-era health care law, making it highly unlikely that the justices would decide the case before the 2020 election.
Judge calls Notre Dame’s third try at avoiding contraceptive mandate ‘absurd’
At times describing the defendants’ argument as bordering “on the absurd” and noting the policies are already causing injury, the Northern District of Indiana has blocked another attempt by the University of Notre Dame and federal agencies to limit women students’ access to contraceptives.
Cook Medical wins new trial in product lawsuit after judge admits he erred
A federal judge has vacated a $3 million jury award against Cook Medical, saying a Georgia woman who sued the Bloomington-based device maker “did not have overwhelming evidence” to show the company’s implanted blood-clot filter was defective or caused her injuries.
Community Health accused of improper Medicare claims in federal lawsuit
The United States government has filed a complaint against Community Health Network, alleging the central Indiana health care system submitted false claims to the Medicare program. Community, however, is calling the claims “meritless.”