When Brannen Whirledge was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 4, he was put on medications that failed to help him. He suffered continual vomiting and severe stomach cramps. Then they found a medication that worked. Brannen’s symptoms went away. But after six months, says his mother, Melissa Whirledge, the family’s insurer told them that…
Story updated 2/6 Two Cobb County residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, saying the insurer misled Georgia consumers into believing WellStar Health System was in its exchange network when they signed up for coverage. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Atlanta, is the latest chapter in the dispute…
Story updated 2/6 Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has given people in the Georgia insurance exchange more time to visit WellStar Health System doctors and presumably not face higher out-of-pocket costs. The contract for exchange coverage between Anthem and Marietta-based WellStar ended Monday. But instead of making WellStar exchange patients out of network immediately,…
David Carmon’s body began to shut down just three days after a mosquito bite over Labor Day weekend. He arrived at a Gainesville emergency room extremely ill. No one knew what was wrong. “They ran every test,” says his wife, Jessie. “By the fifth day, he was paralyzed, on a respirator and fighting for his life.”…
After years of delay, the merger between Northside Hospital and Gwinnett Health System may be close to becoming reality. Health care industry officials say the deal is close to approval by the Federal Trade Commission. That approval may come within a month or even sooner, say the officials, who are not associated with Northside or…
As Georgia lawmakers push to revamp health care regulations, two major hospital groups have proposed some revisions to the state certificate-of-need system. Those proposals stemmed from months of hospital officials’ discussions on CON, which the industry has relentlessly defended for years in the Georgia General Assembly. But the hospital recommendations fall far short of the…
Like many U.S. workers, thousands of Georgia teachers and state employees are being offered financial incentives for reaching wellness goals this year. The State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) covers more than 660,000 state employees, teachers, other school personnel, retirees and dependents. One SHBP wellness plan, launched by Atlanta-based digital health company Sharecare, would reward members…
BioIQ, a health IT company, is moving its headquarters to Cobb County and will bring hundreds of additional jobs here, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Thursday. Deal said the privately held company will invest more than $5 million in Cobb. BioIQ already has an office here, but the move of its headquarters from California reflects the…
Workers and their families are spending a larger percentage of income on health care, especially in the South, a report says. Average premium contributions by employees are 7 percent of median income nationally. But Georgia is among 11 states where these contributions for single and family plans amounted to 8 percent of median income or more,…
Employer premiums for family health insurance rose by a modest 5 percent this year, a rate that still exceeds the increases in wages and inflation, a newly released survey says. Both employers and workers feel the impact of such increases, said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which released the health…