Provider directories for some health plans sold through Covered California and in the private market are so inaccurate that they create an “awful” situation for consumers trying to find doctors, according to the lead author of a new study published in the journal Health Affairs.

A federal appeals court has ruled that consumers must be allowed to buy certain types of health insurance that do not meet the stringent standards of the Affordable Care Act, deciding that the administration had gone beyond the terms of federal law.

A new study from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill examining usage of and spending for specialty prescription drugs by commercial insurance plans finds huge spikes from 2003 through 2014. During that stretch, drugmakers launched more and more high-priced drugs, many of them big scientific advances, and raised their prices for existing drugs at least once a year.

The battle between congressional Republicans and the White House over the Affordable Care Act is again escalating—in court and on Capitol Hill.

The growth of insurance plans built around small networks of health-care providers is fueling new fights over surprise medical bills, when patients inadvertently get care from out-of-network doctors.

Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. face resistance from the Justice Department to their proposed $34 billion merger and an uphill battle persuading antitrust enforcers the deal won’t harm competition, according to people familiar with the matter.