Core and Group Health

Including changes based on how sick or healthy people are, the total increase in payments to insurers is estimated to be about 6.5 percent, on average,

A deal or joint venture between Humana and Walmart might help defend against competitive threats in both the retail and health care industries.

Because the new plans will not be defined as "health insurance," they will not be subject to a variety of state and federal insurance regulations. Or so proponents hope.

A combination of artificial and human intelligence data analytics, offering the opportunity to bring greater customization to medical approaches, is expected to increase in demand over the next few years.

Buying Humana would put Walmart into some less familiar lines of business, but the Medicare piece does fit with its retail and pharmacy customer base.

The lawsuit marked a bold move against the state's dominant health care system in Northern California as concerns mount nationally about consolidation among hospitals, insurers and other industry middlemen.