Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a San Francisco Democrat, has joined forces with those seeking approval of an initiative that would allow California to regulate health insurance rates.

The Maryland Insurance Administration has approved the Cigna‘s acquisition of Bravo Health, a Baltimore, Md.-based operator of Medicare Advantage plans.

A bipartisan, companion Senate bill to the House bill excluding insurance agent compensation from medical loss ratio (MLR) calculations will be introduced in a few days, although the political environment makes its passage uncertain.

The Obama Administration rejected Texas’ request that it be allowed to phase in federal health reform‘s medical loss ratio to prevent the state’s health insurance market from destabilizing.

A Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization says that the federal health reform should be declared unconstitutional because it is cannot function without the individual mandate, which the group also argues is unconstitutional.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky told health care advocates that the November presidential election is all about health reform and how far it can be taken.

If Obamacare comes into full force in 2014, it is my firm belief that the economic hardships our country is experiencing now will pale in comparison. Dare I say that a second Great Depression could be the result?

Aetna, the national health insurer, has a new look and logo, which it says “continues its evolution from an insurance carrier to a health solutions company.”

Attorneys general from 11 states and Washington, D.C., have filed court papers in the federal health reform law case, arguing that the individual mandate forcing all Americans to buy health insurance, starting in 2014, is constitutional.

The biggest story of last year is no surprise: the ongoing battle over federal health reform, according to the latest IFAwebnews.com poll.