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Medical Devices. Florida health system hit with proposed class-action lawsuit over data breach. Policy and Legislation. Community Benefit. Twitter mourns educator Dr. Nadia Chaudhri. What can be learned from her story? Accountable Care. Expansion was rapid in the first seven years, and the two men added facilities in Kentucky, Virginia, and Connecticut.
With the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid in the mids, the industry grew quickly. Slightly ahead of the pack in what was to become the most rapidly expanding sector of the nation's economy, Jones and Cherry reincorporated their venture in and sold stock for seven years to finance further growth. Extendicare Inc. As Medicare spawned a nursing home glut and stocks suffered, Extendicare experimented with alternatives. There was a brief and unfortunate diversification into mobile home parks between and , which the company quickly unloaded.
Extendicare acquired its first hospital in late , realizing it could apply the same business practices it had developed for operating nursing homes. Within two years, the company had acquired nine more hospitals. The hospitals proved so successful that Extendicare divested all of its nursing homes in With a focus now entirely on hospitals, the company's name was changed to Humana Inc. Some of the features that distinguished Humana from other hospital chains early on were its nonconforming management decisions, the refusal to overpay in buying hospitals, the refusal to manage hospitals it did not own, and rigid cost-control measures well-enforced through the company's centralized management.
These methods became much discussed: first because they seemed remarkable in the industry; later because of complaints by some physicians about overcontrol. For example, Humana's efforts to ensure reimbursement included the insistence on a specific payment-plan agreement before patients were discharged.
The cost controls eventually became one of Humana's greatest assets. Between and , Humana grew quickly and achieved economies of scale, like other hospital chains, by making bulk purchases of supplies and equipment. Unlike some competitors, however, Humana remained very centralized, operating all patient-billing and data-collection out of its home office in Louisville.
Freed from the distraction of managing hospitals it did not own--also unlike most competitors--Humana concentrated on strict productivity and profitability goals. As the nation's third largest hospital-management chain in , Humana committed a bold act: it acquired the number two chain, American Medicorp, Inc. This purchase doubled Humana's size and stretched its debt. Cofounders Jones and Cherry, chairman and president, respectively, remained untroubled because 45 percent of hospital revenues were coming from government-guaranteed Medicare and Medicaid.
The two men also saw the hospital business as recession resistant, even though Humana suffered from low-occupancy rates at some of its facilities during these years. Meanwhile, Humana unloaded unprofitable hospitals. While the healthcare industry was burgeoning into the second largest industry in the United States, Humana alone was honing its cost controls: between its own growth and government-subsidized medical care, the industry in general had not yet felt the need for cost efficiency.
To build its medical reputation, Humana established a Centers for Excellence program in for the purpose of specialty care.
This included centers for neuroscience, diabetes, spinal injuries, and artificial-heart research and surgery. As the American health care system changed in the s, Humana began marketing health insurance products. United Healthcare attempted to acquire Humana in In , Humana partnered with Navigy, Inc. In , Humana entered into a business partnership with Virgin Group, offering financial incentives to members for healthy behavior, such as regular exercise.
Humana also launched RightSource, a national mail-order retail pharmacy business in In May , Humana announced that they would be using mobileStorm to allow transmission of protected health information to patients. Aetna, Inc. It offers traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, includi Candidates supported by Humana know that our endorsement represents a shared commitment to these goals.
Humana and Aetna , a U. As of March , the merger is pending approval from federal antitrust regulators while investigators determine the scope of potential negative impacts on consumer pricing, access to care, and market competition.
The U. Department of Justice filed lawsuits on July 21, , to halt the proposed mergers between Humana and Aetna as well as Cigna and Anthem.
The lawsuits arose from concerns that the proposed mergers would limit competition in the health insurance market, raise health insurance premiums, and create challenges for the Affordable Care Act. All four health insurers fought the lawsuits. The following individuals are members of Humana's board of directors, according to the company's website as of April [16].
The following individuals are Humana's executive officers, according to the company's website as of April [17]. The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Humana. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles. Humana - Google News. Ballotpedia features , encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers.
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