The list continued to grow of preventive services that people are entitled to receive without paying anything out of pocket. In 2014, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended two new services and tweaked a handful of others that had previously been recommended. Under the health law, preventive care that receives an “A” or “B” ...

California lawmakers are advancing legislation to add pregnancy to the list of so-called ‘life-qualifying events’ allowing people to buy health insurance outside the regular open enrollment period. U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California have urged the state to adopt the measure, and advocates are pressuring federal health authorities to do the same. ...

Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell argued Thursday that premium hikes floated by health insurance companies this week will likely end up being lower once they are finalized. Republicans have seized on the higher rates to attack the healthcare law. Tennessee’s biggest insurer has proposed an increase of 36 percent for some ...

Some health care organizations might opt to leave the accountable care organization program because CMS did not address some of their concerns in its latest rules update, Modern Healthcare reports (Dickson, Modern Healthcare, 6/5). New Final Rule Details CMS on Thursday issued a final rule for the Medicare Shared Savings Program that seeks to keep ...

A top California regulator vowed a “deep dive” into a $1.2-billion acquisition proposed by Blue Shield of California amid criticism that the nonprofit insurer is shortchanging the public. Shelley Rouillard, director of the state Department of Managed Health Care, signaled tough scrutiny ahead for Blue Shield’s proposed purchase of Medicaid insurer Care1st Health Plan at ...

With the addition of San Diego’s three largest health systems, more than one million patients soon will have the opportunity to participate in the region’s health information exchange, San Diego Health Connect. The community-wide HIE allows patient medical records to be shared among the region’s competing health care providers, large and small. Scripps Health, Sharp ...