Health Insurance

Patient advocates called on state regulators Tuesday to force health insurers to cover certain autism treatments. Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica sent a letter to Cindy Ehnes, executive director of the state Department of Managed Health Care, and her boss, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, expressing concern about delays in resolving coverage complaints from parents of autistic children.

California regulators said Wednesday that they would investigate accusations by 10 patients that Blue Cross has a system to retroactively cancel health coverage for members after they need expensive medical care.

Medicare's new prescription benefit will cover sexual performance drugs, like Viagra, in addition to medications for such ailments as high blood pressure and heart disease, program officials confirmed Monday.

Thanks mostly to expanded government health coverage for children, the number of people without health insurance fell in 2007 for the first time since President Bush took office, the U.

Healthcare reform may be dead in Washington, but a growing number of states -- under both Republicans and Democrats -- are taking steps to expand medical insurance coverage.

A Los Angeles County jury found Friday that Kaiser Permanente retaliated against one of its emergency room physicians after he raised concerns about the quality of care at Kaiser's Bellflower Medical Center.

Abandoning the business lobby's traditional resistance to healthcare reform, a new coalition of 36 major companies plans to launch a political campaign today calling for medical insurance to be expanded to everyone along lines Gov.

There's no shortage of websites explaining the vagaries of health insurance, but the relaunch last week of a veteran site, www.ahirc.org, offers perhaps the most comprehensive online resource we've seen for anyone without insurance or in need of free or low-cost medical care.