NEW YORK - Tension typically defines contract negotiations between health insurers and health care providers, but the haggling has taken an ugly turn lately.

MINNEAPOLIS - The stock options scandal claimed its biggest corporate chief yet on Sunday, with UnitedHealth Group saying Chairman and CEO William McGuire would step down because an outside report found that his option grants ‘‘were likely backdated.’’

The recent comments comparing auto insurance to health insurance seem a bit confusing. I suppose that I could agree, at some level, that driving is a “privilege.” But, this is 2012, not 1912. We have a federal highway system, as well as state and county government roadways, with all the accompanying taxes, rules and regulations.

Rebecca Warren: According to a report last year by benefits consultant Watson Wyatt, nearly half (47 percent) of the 453 large U.S. employers currently offer a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP), a high-deductible plan offered with a personal account that can be used to pay a portion of medical expenses not covered under the plan.

There's more than one way to say "I love you" this Valentine's Day. A coalition of Arizona hospitals and health care, faith-based and community organizations want to show their love for children by helping them sign up for health insurance.

Two doctors are launching an initiative drive to preclude lawmakers from requiring Arizonans to purchase health insurance.

WASHINGTON - Workers won't find much comfort in the smallest increase in health insurance premiums since 1999. The 7.7 percent increase this year was still more than twice the rate of inflation.

Enrollment in KidsCare II, Arizona’s temporary Children’s Health Insurance Program, is open for a limited time.

The number of people who purchase health insurance as individuals continues to grow each year and it’s important for these consumers to understand the options that are available when it comes to their coverage.

The number of people who purchase health insurance as individuals continues to grow each year and it’s important for these consumers to understand the options that are available when it comes to their coverage.

Ask Arizonans about their health care concerns and — overwhelmingly — they will say they are worried about how much their health insurance costs and whether they will continue to be able to afford it.

The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the challenge to the health care law passed in 2010. The law, President Barack Obama's signature legislative accomplishment and ticket to the history books, requires most individuals to purchase health insurance, known as the individual mandate.

It's that time of year again. Nope, not holidays, hunting or Halloween. We're talking open-enrollment season for health care coverage.

Calling it too big of a change to be done so quickly, Gov. Jan Brewer on Thursday vetoed legislation that could have left Arizonans unable to get insurance coverage for certain medical conditions or treatments.

Arlene Becker had little reason to pay attention, until the notices from Blue Shield began arriving one after another. On the first of the year, her premiums shot up, on top of the increase just a few months ago and the one a few months before that.

Undocumented workers and their children don't figure into President Barack Obama's signature health overhaul. Safety-net programs such as Medicaid are generally off-limits.

As more Americans lose health coverage because of unemployment, the latest snapshot of the uninsured reveals a grim picture: It's not just the poor and unemployed who now go without health insurance.

WASHINGTON — Senior House Democrats have largely abandoned hopes of including a government-run insurance option in the final compromise health care bill taking shape, according to several officials, and are pushing for other measures to rein in private insurers.

WASHINGTON — Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo?

WASHINGTON — Insurance companies aren't playing nice any more. Their dire message that health care legislation will drive up premiums for people who already have coverage comes as a warning shot at a crucial point in the debate, and threatens President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.