Idaho Business Review IBR

The Federal Trade Commission and the Idaho attorney general have jumped into an antitrust case against St. Luke’s, Idaho’s largest health care provider. A similar case had been filed in late 2012 by St. Luke’s competitors in Nampa, Saint Alphonsus ...

External reviews of health insurance decisions are gradually increasing in Idaho as more consumers turn to the process rather than to courts to get an independent evaluation of denied claims. Requests for an external review grew from 13 in 2010 ...

As Idaho Legislators consider whether to try to eliminate Idaho’s business personal property tax this year, one small group is watching closely: the district hospitals that could lose thousands of dollars. “Most hospitals in the state are not affected,” said ...

An Idaho Supreme Court decision this month will enable health care cost sharing organizations to operate in the state. They present an inexpensive but risky option for meeting the coming federal insurance mandate. The Supreme Court on Feb. 25 overturned ...

Doctors, hospitals, other medical providers and companies who do business with them are facing big changes as a result of new HIPAA regulations. The new rule will keep lawyers busy counseling entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability ...

Advocates for a medical marijuana program in Idaho are beginning a new campaign to get the issue in front of voters by 2014 and possibly create a new, for-profit industry in the state. Compassionate Idaho, a nonprofit leading efforts to ...

To engage employees in a company wellness program, wellness experts say it pays to hit employees where it hurts: right in the pocketbook. “Everybody wants to be healthy … but we need the tools and the resources and the support ...

Injecting a rare shot of bipartisanship in the nation’s contentious health care overhaul, the Obama administration Jan. 3 cleared four Republican-led states to build their own consumer-friendly insurance markets. With open enrollment for millions of uninsured Americans just nine months ...

An Idaho woman has filed a federal anti-trust lawsuit against Blue Cross of Idaho, and the case is being consolidated with several others nationwide in the Northern District of Alabama. Melissa Allen contends that Blue Cross of Idaho, the national ...

The Treasure Valley’s two major health providers have finished filing federal court paperwork in anticipation of a judge’s coming decision on whether to temporarily halt St. Luke’s Health System’s planned acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group in Nampa. A hearing is ...