Trending News Today: Insurers Seek Premium Hike for NY Health Exchanges

State legislators and advocates in California are rushing to receive federal approval of a proposal that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain insurance from California exchanges. Senator Ricardo Lara put an urgency clause on the legislation due to concerns that the new administration will not allow their proposal to go through, according to Kaiser Health News. The bill would need to have a two-thirds majority to be implemented.

Health insurers are looking to raise premiums in New York by an average of 17.3% next year for Affordable Care Act health exchanges. Certain insurers like UnitedHealthGroup are seeking to boost NY premiums by an alarming 45.6%, which The Chicago Tribune reports is the second highest request in the state. However, New York’s Department of Financial Services can force insurers to lower their requested rates.

Amgen Inc’s deCode genetics unit has discovered a genetic variation in ASGR1 that is associated with a 34% lower-than-average risk of heart disease, according to The Wall Street Journal. The variant of ASGR1 had lower levels of bad cholesterol, which researchers believe is the reason for lower heart risks. Researchers found the variant in 1 of 120 patients studied, and these patients were observed to have an additional year of life.