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In its quest to remake the nation’s health care system, the Obama administration has urged doctors and hospitals to band together to improve care and cut costs, using a model devised by researchers at Dartmouth College. But Dartmouth itself, facing mounting financial losses in the federal program, has dropped out, raising questions about the future of the new entities known as accountable care organizations, created under the Affordable Care Act. (Pear, 9/10)

Dartmouth-Hitchcock plans to lay off hundreds of employees after a poor financial performance last fiscal year. In an email sent to Dartmouth-Hitchcock employees, CEO James Weinstein said the company needs to shave $100 million ... in annual expenses to achieve financial stability. The company finished last fiscal year with a $12 million ... deficit. (Moon, 9/9)

Republican candidates for governor are calling for inquiries into how the new contract between the New Hampshire Hospital with Dartmouth-Hitchcock was handled — with some pushing for the outright cancellation of the deal. Up to 460 layoffs were announced Friday, just two days after Dartmouth-Hitchcock was awarded a controversial, $37 million state contract by members of the Executive Council. (Feely, 9/11)

New York's Department of Financial Services has issued an emergency regulation intended to help the state's health insurers deal with a federal requirement that puts some under sharp financial stress. The federally mandated program for adjusting financial risk under the Affordable Care Act transfers pooled funds to plans showing higher-risk clients. (9/11)

Steve Banke employs 40 people at 3-Points, a small IT outsourcing company he founded almost 15 years ago. And he wants those workers and their families to have strong health insurance options. Employees at the firm, based in Oak Brook, Ill., can choose between two types of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois plans: a PPO with a broader network of hospitals and doctors or a cheaper HMO network. Banke's company covers a percentage of the premiums, and those costs have risen rapidly over the past several years, often more than 12% annually, he said. (Herman, 9/10)

It has been a tumultuous year for Connecticut’s state health insurance exchange, but the latest – and most significant – blow could come Monday if its largest insurer decides not to offer plans next year. The insurer, ConnectiCare Benefits, is facing a Monday deadline to decide whether to leave the exchange in 2017 after a Superior Court judge in New Britain blocked a motion Friday afternoon that would have given the Farmington-based company more time. Whether ConnectiCare will remain on the exchange has not been determined, and potentially could be decided based on how the state Insurance Department rules on a last-minute appeal submitted by the insurer Friday evening. (Constable, 9/12)