A Growing Willingness to Adopt a Largely Untested Payment Model Amid Increased Pressure to Curb Spending Melanie Evans at Modern Physician reports that two large Texas health systems with Medicare accountable care contracts are among the latest to enter into commercial ACOs in deals that suggest a growing willingness to adopt the largely untested payment model amid increasing pressure on providers and payer ...

Ahead of the new health-care law, small firms worry about crossing the crucial 50-person threshold — and about rising premium rates  Emily Maltby at the WSJ Law blog reports on increasing concerns about the forthcoming healthcare laws among small business owners.  This seems to be a prominent issue and concern among small business owners, and has been noted in most every major media outlet in recent weeks, ...

2013 California Filings:   Aetna: 22 percent.  Anthem Blue Cross: 26 percent.  Blue Shield of California: 20 percent. Reed Abelson at the New York Times reported last week that health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapi ...