Aetna Inc. plans to stay out of the U.S. individual major medical insurance market in 2018, according to Mark Bertolini. Bertolini, the Hartford-based company's chairman, talked briefly about Aetna's plans for 2018 during a conference call the company held to discuss fourth-quarter earnings with securities analysts.

The state insurance exchange is in the final days of its fourth annual open enrollment period, which ends Jan. 31, and it has been a burdensome one for many consumers.

California officials have fined health care giant Kaiser Permanente $2.5 million for failing to turn over required data on patient care to the state’s Medicaid program. The California Department of Health Care Services said this was the first fine imposed against one of its Medicaid managed care plans since at least 2000. The state relies on the data to help set rates, ensure adequate care is available and monitor how taxpayer dollars are being spent in the program, known as Medi-Cal in California.

How much would Californians be willing to spend to keep Obamacare in the Golden State? That’s a question lawmakers might be asking residents in the months to come as President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress scurry to repeal the Affordable Care Act and scramble for a plan to replace it.

A leader of the Republican effort to revamp President Barack Obama's health care law says the message from GOP lawmakers at last week's private strategy session was for "a very deliberate, thoughtful approach."

Almost lost in the political battle that surrounds the health reform law is the fact that open enrollment ends on Tuesday.