Nevada Watch

Five Southern Nevada hospitals were among six statewide that received only one star in a controversial five-star rating system unveiled Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Nevada Division of Insurance is pleased to announce the launch of its “Proposed Rates” digital campaign encouraging Nevadans to review and comment on the proposed health insurance rates for 2017.

Health insurance costs for about 240,000 Nevadans who buy individual or small-group plans are expected to rise next year, and state officials want consumers to offer feedback before the proposed rates are locked in in coming weeks.

A new study takes a fresh measure of generic drugs’ price advantages, revealing how much more Medicare Part D patients shelled out in copayments for two popular brand-name drugs in 2013.

The Obama administration knowingly spent billions in health care dollars without proper congressional authority and went to “great lengths” to impede congressional scrutiny of the money, Republicans on two major House committees said in a report that will be made public on Thursday.

Obamacare prices are all over the map.

Anthem Inc. Chief Executive Joseph R. Swedish acknowledged “dynamic tension” with Cigna Corp. over their $48 billion pending merger, but said the health insurers had resolved differences and are on track to receive regulatory approval.

About 9.1% of people in the U.S., or around 28.6 million, were uninsured in 2015 according to federal statistics released Tuesday.

A state audit released Tuesday raised questions about whether Nevada's health insurance exchange is using its money wisely, citing outreach organizations that are being paid tens of thousands of dollars but haven't provided proof that they were promoting the exchange for much of that time.

Health insurers and patients could safely save many billions of dollars annually by swapping out a more expensive drug for a less expensive generic in the same class of drugs, according to a study published Monday.