ND Health Connection

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota shifting to paying providers... FARGO—Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota is launching an initiative that includes a gradual shift to paying health providers based on patient outcomes to reward performance rather than volume.The Blue Alliance pay-for-performance program involves a stronger collaboration with the state's health....

Can IBM fix the health-care problem? IBM's biggest deal in eight years is aimed at bolstering its new health unit and ultimately helping to fix health care.

Hatch questions Burwell on Medicare drug price negotiation rumors HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell did not directly answer a question from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, regarding talk that the Obama administration intends to use executive authority to negotiate drug prices for Medicare Part D. "Such an executive order would be in violation of the law, as the statu…

One of the largest holes in a retirement plan!

The long-term-care problem and some proposed solutions More than one-quarter of 65-year-olds will spend at least $100,000 for long-term care, and 15% will spend over $250,000, yet most people do not have insurance to protect them from those costs. A report by the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center suggests a two-pronged approach to the issue: a basic "r…

Survey shows no change in health insurance enrollment last year The proportion of US adults lacking health insurance was 11.9% in the fourth quarter, showing essentially no change compared with the beginning of 2015, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index says. The White House says 11.3 million people have signed up for 2016 plans under the Affordable Care Act,…