The 44,000 people covered by eight plans of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania could see premium increases of between 15% and 27%.

Consumers in New York won nearly half of the internal appeals they filed against health insurers in 2009, according to the New York State Insurance Department.

Blue Cross Blue Shield companies suffered a 40.7% average drop in underwriting earnings last year, part of a mixed bag financially.

New York insurance regulators clamped down on 20 health insurers and HMOs operating in the state by fining them a total of $716,800 for failing to promptly pay claims.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware is affiliating with Highmark Inc., Pennsylvania’s largest health insurer, in a deal announced less than a week after its interest in finding a strategic partner was made public.

Federal authorities have granted more than $46 million to 45 states and Washington, D.C., to “improve the oversight of proposed health insurance premium increases.”

Independence Blue Cross (IBC) is offering its members more personalized online information about their health, a move it says coincides with health reform’s passage.

The American Medical Association has sent letters to the largest health insurers in the U.S., asking for immediate action to improve the accuracy, reliability and transparency of physician ratings.

Regional health insurer CareFirst wants its customers to stay healthy and is prepared to reward them for doing so.

A consumer group warned in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that health insurers “cannot be trusted” when lobbying over provisions of the new federal health reform law.