Bloomberg News

Nine of 32 hospitals and health systems dropped out of a U.S. pilot program created through the Affordable Care Act to reduce medical costs by moving away from a traditional fee-for-services model, the government said.

In the U.S., 70% of the blood supply comes from repeat donors, who can put themselves at risk.

The largest U.S. pension earned 19% on its publicly traded equity holdings. “When things got rough, we didn’t panic,” says the chief investment officer.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. says it will more than double payments to physicians tied to quality and cost efficiency within five years, in the latest sign of transformation in the American medical system.

About 25 million Americans are projected to gain insurance under the health care law, including 13 million through the state-federal Medicaid program for the poor.

Misuse of drugs like OxyContin is driving up the cost of insurance claims, and abuse of opioids is killing more people than cocaine and heroin combined.

The U.S. government is set to decide this month whether federal health insurance should cover the cost of a $3,000 test that for the first time accurately identifies the signature brain plaques of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our results support the ancient proverb: ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper,”’ says Hana Kahleova, a researcher at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague, Czech Republic.

Consuming an additional half-serving a day of red meat during a four-year period increased a person’s chance of developing diabetes by 48% in the subsequent four years, according to a study this month in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The nation’s largest pension fund and health insurer WellPoint Inc. cut medical costs 19% by capping the price of some surgeries, in the latest sign payers are taking a tougher line against rising hospital claims.

A Government Accountability Office report released this month shows computer systems for the insurance marketplaces may not be ready on time and training for the people who will assist consumers is behind schedule.

Computer systems to help Americans gain coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges may not be ready on time, and training for the people who will assist consumers is behind schedule, a government report found.

Hostility over traditional public DB plans escalates.

Prudential Financial Inc., the second-largest U.S. life insurer, authorized the repurchase of $1 billion in shares through the end of June 2014.

The Affordable Care Act’s initial success next year depends on President Barack Obama’s ability to coax at least 2.6 million people who are young and healthy to sign up for health insurance.

Prudential Financial Inc. and MetLife Inc. are moving onto Aflac Inc.’s turf selling protection against diseases and accidents as the largest insurers seek to add business tied to the Affordable Care Act and win valuations like their smaller rival.

American International Group Inc. and MetLife Inc. are among insurers asked by a New York regulator to show how they protect against computer attacks.

People from Maryland will have 13 insurance companies to choose from on their health insurance exchange, state officials announced this morning. The insurance options for California residents on the state’s exchange were also announced late last week amid reports that higher premiums may await those individuals.

Aflac Inc., the largest seller of supplemental health insurance, says President Paul Amos II will have expanded duties for Japan operations and investments as the company prepares for the eventual departure of his father, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Amos, 61.

Children of such women were more likely to have scores in the lowest quartile for verbal ability, reading accuracy and reading comprehension than those whose mothers had sufficient iodine levels, according to the study published today.