Core and Group Health

Medicare Advantage premiums will be 4 percent lower in 2012, and enrollment is expected to rise 10 percent, according to an announcement made Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week jumped to the highest level in three months, a sign that layoffs could be increasing.

Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. said Wednesday that it is suing Walgreen Co., arguing the drugstore chain is trying to lure away its customers.

Some of the worlds top producers belong to the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), and they have been spending the day going door to door in the halls of Congress, trying to win support for NAIFA legislative priorities.

Managers of the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program are revising the PCIP application to include information about the agents or brokers who have helped consumers sign up for coverage.

Betting that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul withstands lawsuits and a Republican repeal drive, an unusual alliance of industry, health care and consumer groups is laying the groundwork to sign up uninsured Americans.