Health insurers, which faced harsh criticism during the debate over US healthcare reform legislation, have performed well in the last year as patients tried to avoid medical procedures amid a weak economy. Read the Article>

National elections this fall may wind up being as much of a factor behind managed care stock performance as issues like the cost of medical care, according to a Citi analyst. Read the Article>

Federal regulators denied a request from Michigan to waive new limits on profits and administrative costs for the state’s health insurers.

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Opinion by Reed Abelson Read the Article>

Opinion by Dan Diamond Read the Article>

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) again reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its annual outlook as it continued to benefit from muted health-care usage, but the health insurer also warned that conditions could get tougher.

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Blue Shield of California announced grants that totaled nearly $20 million for accountable care organization development.

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Health insurers will have to start publicly justifying big rate hikes, according to a new requirement of the healthcare law implemented Thursday to get insurance companies to hold down skyrocketing premiums. Read the Article>

Opinion by Wendell Potter

With Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and the White House in 2009, insurers assumed some kind of healthcare reform was inevitable, so they adopted a strategy to shape rather than stop reform.

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Consumers will buy insurance through the exchanges in 2014, creating about $60bn in revenue premiums for insurers. By 2019, this will swell to $200bn, when 28m consumers have purchased insurance.

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