Just as millions of people are gaining insurance through Medicaid, the program is poised to make deep cuts in payments to many doctors, prompting some physicians and consumer advocates to warn that the reductions could make it more difficult for Medicaid patients to obtain care.

Health insurance companies are gearing up for another fight with the Obama administration over payments to Medicare Advantage (MA), the private alternative to traditional Medicare.

After drug pricing concerns weighed on Gilead Sciences' stock toward the end of December, the drugmaker has kicked off 2015 the same way it did the previous two years: by increasing prices on several products.

President Obama's executive action on immigration, announced last month, could potentially come with a much sweeter - and healthier - deal for undocumented immigrants in California than in the rest of the country.

Many businesses in low-wage industries have hired more part-time workers and cut the hours of full-timers recently to soften the impact of new health law requirements that take effect Thursday, some consultants say.

Almost 145,000 Blue Shield of California members who get their health benefits through work will be affected by a contract break with Sacramento-based Sutter Health - if it holds.