Judge blocks Gov. Bryant in insurance dispute
A federal judge Monday blocked Gov. Phil Bryant from compelling Mississippi’s largest health insurer to resume paying its in-network rate to a chain of 10 hospitals.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate read a temporary restraining order from the bench saying Bryant didn’t provide enough proof to justify an executive order he issued last week.
Judge mulls request to block gov. order
JACKSON — A federal judge says he intends to rule on Monday in a dispute between Mississippi’s largest health insurer and Gov. Phil Bryant. U.S.
HMA rejects insurer’s reinstatement offer
JACKSON — Health Management Associates has rejected an offer from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi to reinstate four of 10 HMA-owned hospitals in Mississippi
Coverage may return to four hospitals
FLOWOOD — Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi has announced an offer to reinstate network provider agreements with four of 10 Health Management Associates
Health insurance marketplace set to open in Miss.
Beginning Tuesday, some Mississippians can sign up for new health insurance policies on the state’s federally-run health insurance marketplace.
Miss. premiums among highest in health exchange
Mississippi is one of the poorest and unhealthiest states in the nation, and its residents will face some of the highest premiums under a health insurance exchange, an online marketplace that will be run by the federal government.
Miss. lawmakers hear about BlueCross-HMA dispute
JACKSON — Mississippi lawmakers said Monday they hope the state’s second-largest hospital company and largest health insurer will resolve a financial dispute before patients lose
Patient’s bill soars as health law program falters
WASHINGTON — Coping with advanced cancer, Bev Veals was in the hospital for chemo this summer when she got a call that her health plan
PEER proposes review of trauma care cost
JACKSON — Two incidents that occurred within months of each other prompted Mississippi public health leaders and lawmakers to invest in a trauma care system.
Miss. insurer could cut ties to two hospital systems
JACKSON — Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi has told the state’s second-largest hospital owner that it will end its contract with the company’s
Baptist among hospitals involved in Medicare settlement
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle in Columbus is among 55 hospitals in 21 states that will pay a total of $34 million to the U.S. government to settle allegations that they used more expensive inpatient procedures rather than outpatient spinal surgeries to get bigger payments from Medicare, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
Insurers may skip health plans in much of Miss.
People in 36 of Mississippi’s 82 counties may not be able to buy health insurance through the new federal online marketplace when it starts enrolling customers in October.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says two insurers have announced offerings so far, planning to serve 46 counties.
Hospitals sue Blue Cross Blue Shield over payments
JACKSON — Ten Mississippi hospitals claim in a breach-of-contract lawsuit that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi shortchanged them by more than $13 million in
Miss. GOP, Dems set opposite Medicaid positions
JACKSON — State leadership committees for the Mississippi Republican and Democratic parties are staking out opposite positions on Medicaid expansion. Resolutions adopted by the two
Study: When helmet laws are weakened, injury costs increase
The average medical claim from a motorcycle crash rose by more than one-fifth last year in Michigan after the state stopped requiring all riders to wear helmets, according to an insurance industry study. Across the nation, motorcyclists opposed to mandatory helmet use have been chipping away at state helmet laws for years while crash deaths have been on the rise.
High hospital bills go public, but will it change anything?
For the first time, the government is publicly revealing how much hospitals charge, and the differences are astounding: Some bill tens of thousands of dollars more than others for the same treatment, even within the same city.
Hospitals see surge of superbug-fighting products
They sweep. They swab. They sterilize. And still the germs persist.
In U.S. hospitals, an estimated 1 in 20 patients pick up infections they didn’t have when they arrived, some caused by dangerous ‘superbugs’ that are hard to treat.
Hospital group says ‘alarm fatigue’ can be deadly
Constantly beeping alarms from devices that monitor the vital signs of the critically ill have “desensitized” hospital workers who sometimes ignore the noise, leading to at least two dozen deaths a year on average, a hospital accrediting group said Monday.
Miss. Dems seek new approach on Medicaid expansion
Democrats in the Mississippi Legislature say they’re trying a new approach to push for Medicaid expansion — an issue they support and Republican leaders oppose.
Miss. Dems push GOP for Medicaid expansion vote
Mississippi House Democrats said Monday they’re trying to bring pressure on Republicans to revive a Medicaid bill that’s blocked in a committee.