A year ago, Debbie Townsend still hoped she could turn things around. Her patients don’t know it, but she bleeds money filling many of their prescriptions. In a few weeks, she’ll lose the independent pharmacy she has run for the past 15 years. “We’re going out of business. [The middlemen]…
The pillars of the Fourth Estate, i.e. the press, are taking a beating. “Fake news” has become a ridiculous cliche, yet the mantra is starting to damage those pillars like so much wind and rain. The stately columns are weathered. Cracked and chipped. Tweets and social…
A plan by State Treasurer Dale Folwell to reform the nearly insolvent State Health Plan faces legislative pushback, prodded by hospitals and large medical providers. Folwell has no plan to abandon the reforms, which actuaries say would prevent the plan from going broke within four years.
North Carolina’s largest insurer has brokered an agreement with three national health care companies to open intensive primary care clinics this year in areas lacking services. “When patients with multiple health issues have access to intensive primary care, we know they’re more satisfied, and we know…
DURHAM — The state’s largest health insurance company is partnering with five of North Carolina’s major health systems in a pathbreaking, shared-risk payment model designed to improve the quality of patient care and drive down costs. Patrick Conway, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue…
State Treasurer Dale Folwell’s proposed cost-cutting reforms for the State Health Plan have drawn praise from state employees’ representatives and a nationally recognized free-market health finance expert. But medical providers aren’t too happy with the treasurer’s plans. The State Health Plan has a $3.3 billion annual budget, though costs exceed…
State Treasurer Dale Folwell is making good on a pledge from his 2016 election campaign to cut costs and boost transparency in the State Health Plan. Oct. 4, Folwell announced that in January 2020, the State Health Plan will change the way it reimburses medical providers.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state’s largest health insurance provider, is giving $159,000 to five counties to cut debt in their school lunch programs. School districts in Alamance, Guilford, Forsyth, Rockingham, and Davidson counties will get the money. “Blue Cross NC’s mission…
Update: This story was updated at 3:06 Monday, May 14, to include a comment from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. State Treasurer Dale Folwell has placed a number on a money-saving change he has talked about since taking office…
