DRG Fingertip insights

Chronic pain is a multi-billion dollar market saturated with well-established branded and generic analgesics that are only partially effective. While drugs with novel mechanisms of action that offer g…

Independence Blue Cross is one of the state’s largest health insurers, but is one of the last to cover its members’ self-injected specialty drugs under the medical benefit. But that’s changing in 2010…

Employers in North Carolina and South Carolina are turning to so-called hybrid plans to help them continue to offer coverage in one of the regions worst hit by job losses. The hybrid plans combine fea…

In what could end up as a budget buster for the state, Maryland's Medicaid rolls went up by more than 90,000 from July 2008 to October 2009. The recession accounted for some of that rise just as…

Formulary Advantages in Orally Delivered Oncology Agents: Impact of Cost Controls and Emerging Agents on Key Brands

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City has engaged a medical home pilot with TransforMED, bringing new technologies to 13 medical practices in its operating regions. The practices can build the med…

As the nation moves toward comprehensive healthcare reform, co-ops are gaining national recognition as a possible alternative to a public healthcare option. Wisconsin's co-ops have been successful…

The HMO subsidiary of Michigan's largest health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has begun the process to purchase an independent, Lansing-based HMO, Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michi…

Several Tennessee-based companies are confident enough about the future of Medicare Advantage programs to launch expansions. Most notable in the group is BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the state’s…

The individual health insurance markets in New York and New Jersey are a study in contrasts, despite the fact both are highly regulated to guarantee residents a certain level of coverage. New Jersey&#…

The HealthLeaders-InterStudy Market Analyst team analyzes major developments at the nation’s publicly held health plans each quarter through their financial releases and conference call transcripts. T…

The HealthLeaders-InterStudy Market Analyst team analyzes major developments at the nation’s publicly held health plans each quarter through their financial releases and conference call transcripts. T…