Core and Group Health

In an election-year decision certain to disappoint religious conservatives, the Obama administration announced Friday that church-affiliated institutions will get only one additional year to meet a new rule to cover birth control free of charge.

Washington state lawmakers considered proposed legislation Thursday that will require most health insurers offering maternity care to also cover elective abortions.

House Republicans say a fresh push for a 1,700-mile Canada-to-Texas pipeline could be part of a new round of negotiations over extending the payroll tax cut and benefits for the long-term unemployed.

Wisconsin will turn down $37 million from the federal government that had been awarded to help implement health care exchanges under President Barack Obama's health care reform law, Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday.

National elections this fall may wind up being as much of a factor behind managed care stock performance as issues like the cost of medical care, according to a Citi analyst.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income jumped 21 percent, but the insurer saw signs of health care use picking up and left its 2012 earnings forecast unchanged.