Core and Group Health

The government unlocked its doors Thursday after 16 days, with President Barack Obama saluting the resolution of Congress' bitter standoff but lambasting Republicans for the partial shutdown that he said had damaged the U.S. economy and America's credibility around the world.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s third-quarter earnings inched up 1 percent in a rare performance that failed to trump Wall Street expectations.

Even as the government reopened its doors, congressional budget negotiators met Thursday and acknowledged that their search for agreements on deficit reduction and spending cuts has no assurance of achieving their goals.

Small businesses that are growing may well be the sweet spot for employee benefits consultants over the next couple of years.

Self-insured coverage for single workers could be 25 percent cheaper than PPACA coverage.

For the first month alone, the Obama administration projected nearly a half million people world sign up for the new health insurance markets. But that was before the markets opened to a cascade of computer problems.