Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint and Amerigroup, one of the largest Medicaid managed care insurers in the country, have agreed to terms in which WellPoint will acquire Amerigroup for $4.9 billion.

Employers will likely pay more if they shift group health plan benefits to federally-subsidized exchanges created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a new white paper.

Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals is trying to cut $859 million from the state Medicaid program, a reduction that may put some of the state's public and rural hospitals at risk of closure, according to a News Star report.

An infographic from Objective Health shows, on average, 300-bed hospitals using cost-to-charge ratios overestimate the profitability of orthopedic surgery by $1.2 million each year.

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate approved an American Hospital Association-supported bill on Friday that includes changes to pension contribution rules, according to an AHA News Now report.

Healthcare spending for children grew faster than spending for adults between 2007 and 2010, and more than tripled the inflation rate from that time, according to a report (pdf) from the Health Care Cost Institute.

Fitch Ratings has released an analysis of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its impact on hospitals, according to a Reuters report.

Here are nine issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.

After the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act yesterday, the stock markets reacted wildly. Stocks were down in the market overall, but many hospital and healthcare companies reaped the benefits of the healthcare reform decision.

For-profit hospital operators were not the only hospital institutions to feel positive financial ramifications from Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, as municipal bond holders are poised to invest more in non-profit hospital debt, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report.