Uroplasty’s Urgent PC Neuromodulation System, which treats overactive bladder by stimulating the posterior tibial nerve, will be covered by national insurance company UnitedHealthcare and regional insurer Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. UnitedHealthcare is the largest insurer in the U.S., covering about 33 million patients through various affiliates. Excellus BCBS insures about 1.6 million people in upstate New [...]

Medica, one of the largest healthcare insurers operating in Minnesota, is showing some attitude with a new marketing campaign in the Twin Cities. Billboards, bus stop and skyway signs show a lesbian couple holding hands, an ear with a huge stud earring, a baby holding a toy block, and a woman with a little girl lying on a blanket. The message is that Medica has “plans that fit your life.”

Are spinal fusion procedures on the way out? Health plans and a growing number of doctors think too many patients are getting lumbar fusions without first exhausting less expensive non-surgical options such as exercise, physical therapy and epidural steroid injections.

Among the life science current events from last week: a Blue Cross Blue Shield spinoff, predictions on the changes in 510(k) regulations, Cleveland Clinic increases its interest in personalized medicine, and Cleveland’s medical mart unveils its early tenants.

Health insurance companies have increasingly relied on data-driven decision-making based on claims data. Blue Health Intelligence, a data analysis business for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, was created to help members as healthcare shifted to an evidence-based, decision-making model. BCBS will spin off the service into its own company and has sent aside $28 million for the shift.

While questioning each other’s money-making techniques, the chiefs of Massachusetts’ most prominent hospital network and private health insurer agreed that controlling soaring healthcare costs begins with a shift in thinking: adjust to a climate of limited resources and learn to live with less, reports MetroWest Daily News.

Geron Corp. used a therapy made from stem cells taken from human embryos to treat a patient paralyzed by a spinal-cord injury in the first U.S.-authorized test of the controversial technology, according to Bloomberg. Geron’s stock price rose a modest 6 percent to $5.67 on Monday.

For a company that promises to “inform” consumers about the law, the letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota is awfully vague.

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of healthcare:Is venture capital just a three-state game? It was in the second quarter, according to data from the always-insightful research firm CB Insights. A whopping 70 percent of all funding went to just three states–California, Massachusetts and New York, with California taking half of [...]

Highlights of the important and interesting from the world of healthcare:Health insurance battle in Mass. heats up: In what’s become a bit of a poker game in Massachusetts, health insurers have just pushed a bunch of their chips into the center of the table. Most insurers in the state have stopped offering new policies to [...]