This week, Blue Shield's veterans employee group surprised children of active-duty servicemembers with new bicyles in San Diego. We asked three members of the group to explain what being a veteran and what working at Blue Shield of California means to them.

Blue Shield of California and OODA Health, a San Francisco-based technology startup, will collaborate to build a new, cloud-based software platform to provide real-time claims payments to health care providers.

Unlike hospice, which is provided in the final weeks and months of life, palliative care coexists and complements curative care, seeking to help relieve symptoms, stress and pain for people living with a serious illness. Here's the story of two of our providers.