Premiums in California's health insurance exchange will rise by an average of 8.7 percent next year, marking a return to more modest increases despite ongoing threats to the Affordable Care Act.

The state marketplace, Covered California, said the rate increase for 2019 would have been closer to 5 percent if the federal penalty for going without...Read more

ROXBOROUGH, Pa. -- Emily Lieber is the kind of teacher you remember: Patient and fun, energetic and creative. Many of the kindergartners and first graders she has taught at Meredith Elementary School in South Philadelphia have a love for her that borders on reverence.

"She's magical," said Christina Pascucci, Meredith's Home and School ...Read more

In patients with blood clots in the veins of their legs -- a debilitating condition called deep-vein thrombosis -- physicians sometimes implant miniature filters to prevent the clots from migrating to the lungs.

But the devices can break and perforate blood vessels, and there is little evidence they save lives, leading some medical societies to...Read more

The new chief executive of UnitedHealth Group's fast-growing Optum division told investors Tuesday that digital health is a key part of the company's future as he touted a United-backed business that soon will open a new office in Minneapolis.

For several years, UnitedHealth has been developing a digital health platform called Rally, which ...Read more

Patients whose blood cancers have failed to respond to repeated rounds of chemotherapy may be candidates for a new type of gene therapy that could send their cancers into remission for years.

But the two approved therapies, with price tags of hundreds of thousands of dollars, have roiled the insurance approval process, leading to delays and, in...Read more

For many women over 40, a yearly screening mammogram to check for breast cancer is a fact of life -- along with the anxiety of waiting for the results. But what if you could get a test that offered better cancer detection, fewer false positives and more peace of mind?

Dr. Robert Maxwell, a Mayo Clinic radiologist, says, with a 3D mammogram, ...Read more

WESTON, Fla. -- The mother of a Weston teenager who died after taking a bite from a Chips Ahoy cookie containing peanut butter is reaching out to fellow parents on Facebook to spread awareness about the brands' packaging for cookies with allergens.

Alexi Ryann Stafford, 15, was at a friend's house June 25 when she opened a package of chewy ...Read more

If the Affordable Care Act's protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions are struck down in court, residents of the Republican-led states that are challenging the law have the most to lose.

"These states have been opposed to the ACA from the beginning," said Gerald Kominski, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy ...Read more

Profit jumped by 28 percent at UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter as the nation's largest health insurer topped earnings estimates and once again boosted financial guidance for the year.

The Minnetonka, Minn.-based health care giant posted earnings of $2.92 billion on $56.1 billion in revenue, which was about 12 percent ahead of ...Read more

Dear Mayo Clinic: My grandson was born with an atrial septal defect and already has had surgery. His health care provider says he shouldn't have any lasting problems; yet, he'll need to have regular checkups with a cardiologist until he is an adult. Why is this necessary? What will the cardiologist be looking for?

A: There are several reasons ...Read more

The Trump administration's decision last week to slash funding to nonprofit groups that help Americans buy individual health insurance coverage sparked outrage from advocates of the Affordable Care Act. Using words like "immoral" and "cold-hearted," they saw it as the Republicans' latest act of sabotage against the sweeping health law.

But as ...Read more

Q: What causes tinnitus, and is there anything that can be done to get rid of it?

A: Tinnitus -- the sensation of hearing a sound when no external sound is present -- often is described as a ringing, buzzing, roaring, clicking, humming, pulsing, or hissing sound, or any combination of these sounds. You may hear it in one or both ears. The sound...Read more

Eating nuts as part of a regular diet significantly improves the quality and function of human sperm, researchers in Spain found.

During a 14-week randomized clinical trial, 119 healthy and apparently fertile young men ages 18-35 were put into two groups. One followed their usual western-style diet supplemented with 60 grams -- roughly a half ...Read more

LOCKPORT, Ill. -- In her children's pediatrician's office two years ago, Lockport mother Kelly DiFilippo declined the HPV vaccine for her oldest daughter, and "no one batted an eye," she said.

But when it was time for her second daughter's sixth-grade physical last winter, DiFilippo's refusal of the vaccine was met with a different reaction ...Read more