Bloomberg News

Howard County, Md., will become the first municipality to establish a nonprofit, member-run health co-op to sell individual and small group plans through the insurance exchanges — a move some say could undercut competitors by 30%.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. and other U.S. health insurers will soon have company in Maryland: a nonprofit started by a county government that plans to sell coverage at rates as much as 30% lower than competitors.

Primary care physicians should screen all females between the ages of 14 and 46 for evidence of domestic abuse, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

The second-biggest U.S. health insurer’s 2013 forecast reflects “uncertainties” that include a flu outbreak, U.S. budget negotiations and implementation of President Obama’s health care overhaul.

The earnings of the largest American medical insurer met analysts’ estimates, the company reported, along with a bump in enrollment that came with a Brazilian acquisition last year.

Two of the largest U.S. drugstore chains, said they are running short of influenza vaccines as an earlier and more severe flu season drives up demand from Michigan to New Jersey.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. provider of medical coverage, will join the Mayo Clinic in a research alliance designed to merge insurance records and medical data to find more efficient ways to deliver care.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that influenza is widespread in 47 states, but certain regions may soon start to see fewer cases.

In a government-sponsored study this week, America ranks below its high-income, industrialized peers in both longevity and disease prevention, despite spending more per capita on health care than any other nation.

The U.S. influenza season is off to a fast start, which may hurt insurers, hospitals and people lulled by the milder outbreaks of the recent past.

Spending on hospital visits, medications and other care grew 3.9% to $2.7 trillion in 2011, matching the slowest growth in 52 years of recordkeeping, according to federal data released this week. Before the 2007 recession, growth was close to 8%.

Health-care spending in the U.S. grew at less than half the pre-recession level for the third straight year, as employers shifted more costs to strapped workers and state governments limited payouts for the poor.

Recent Yale study concludes that fructose, as opposed to glucose, has a minimal effect on telling the brain that it’s full, and may contribute the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Conditional approval from federal government allows Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah to move forward in creating state-run health insurance exchanges to comply with health care reform.

Medical insurance markets crafted by four U.S. Republican governors won conditional approval by the Obama administration as the federal government nudges states toward full implementation of the landmark health-care overhaul.

The biggest U.S. medical insurer is learning to sell health insurance to consumers the way other companies sell shoes, office supplies or iPhones — through a storefront — as PPACA’s sweeping reforms take place.

Globally, those who are slightly overweight and obese have the lowest risks, according to a new U.S. government report, but critics say the study doesn’t take enough other factors, such as disease or nutrition.

The House of Representatives voted late Tuesday night on a Senate-backed plan to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of automatic spending cuts and tax increases. However, 77% of U.S. households will face higher tax rates this year because the deal allowed the payroll tax cut to expire.

Although research finds an increased risk of developing macular degeneration among long-term aspirin takers, study authors still advise patients who take aspirin for cardio-vascular reasons to continue to do so.

The authors of a recent medical report say diabetes is leading to increasing rates of vision loss, and they recommend upping efforts to prevent and quickly diagnose diabetes in order to prevent expensive eye treatments.