Private contractors that are supposed to guard against Medicare fraud paid claims submitted in the names of dead providers or for unnecessary medical treatments, which were among problems estimated to cost more than $1 billion in 2009, according to an inspector general report released Friday.

The outlook for the U.S. health insurance and managed care sectors remains stable, Fitch Ratings announced.

The Obama administration is rolling out a health benefits framework for millions of Americans who will get private insurance through the health care overhaul and states get to decide the specifics.

House Republicans will stick to their insistence that a bill extending a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits include language speeding work on a controversial oil pipeline, Speaker John Boehner said Friday.