HCR Update from Mark Sanna: If President Obama's health care law is to withstand legal challenge, government lawyers must convince a majority of justices that the health care marketplace is unique. By not buying insurance, their argument goes, millions of Americans transfer $43 billion in health care costs to others in the form of higher premiums.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The much-anticipated final regulations for health insurance exchanges -- released Monday in a 644-page document -- emphasized the broad latitude states will have in developing and implementing their own health insurance marketplaces by 2014. The virtual shopping centers will aim to make the process of buying health insurance as easy as navigating a site like Amazon.com.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Spending on genetic tests has reached $5 billion annually and could top $25 billion within a decade, according to an insurance industry study published Monday. The rise in spending is likely to intensify the debate over genetic testing as policymakers and employers struggle to contain spiraling healthcare costs.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The White House has begun an aggressive campaign to use approaching Supreme Court arguments on the new health care law as a moment to build support for the measure seen as President Obama's signature legislative achievement, hoping to shape public opinion on an issue at the center of the battle for the White House and Congress.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: A study published in the journal Health Affairs this week found that doctors who use electronic health records may order more diagnostic testing, and therefore drive up the cost of health care, despite claims to the contrary by the federal government and health IT industry.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The prices of drugs used most widely by older Americans rose by nearly 26% from 2005 to 2009 — nearly twice the rate of inflation — according to a report issued Tuesday by AARP.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Cigna Corp. CEO David M. Cordani's total compensation climbed 25 percent last year, as the nation's fourth-largest health insurer launched a $3.8 billion acquisition, and its stock outperformed the broader market. Cordani, 46, received compensation valued at $18.9 million last year from the Bloomfield, Conn., company, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing Monday.