Barbara Feder Ostrov

<p>When a major insurance company goes under in California's strained healthcare system, the reverberations run deep.</p>

<p>In 2002, health care costs, particularly for cancer treatments, were soaring for seniors in some Medicare HMOs. After negative publicity about one HMO's drastic increase in chemotherapy copayments, the HMO agreed to reduce the cost to make it more affordable for patients.</p>