Anthem to use CVS, drop Express Scripts
Anthem, one of the nation's major health insurance companies, said Wednesday it plans to start its own business to manage prescription drug plans by partnering with CVS Health, the large pharmacy benefit manager and drugstore chain.
The insurer is in the midst of a bitter legal battle with Express Scripts, its current pharmacy benefits manager, over claims Anthem has been overcharged. The insurer said it will start the new business in 2020 after its contract with Express Scripts expires, estimating the savings from the new arrangement to be about $4 billion a year, the bulk of which it said would flow to customers in the form of lower drug costs.
As pharmaceutical costs soar, pharmacy benefits managers, which serve as intermediaries between drug companies and the prescription plans, are coming under increasing criticism. The deals the managers strike with drug manufacturers are typically secret, making it hard to know what prices the companies are actually charging.
"This new partnership allows us to better secure control of the escalating cost," said Joseph R. Swedish, Anthem's chief executive.
American Express CEO to retire next year
Kenneth Chenault, one of the most prominent black corporate leaders and longtime chairman and CEO of American Express, is stepping down next year, the company announced Wednesday.
Chenault, 66, will be replaced Feb. 1 by Stephen Squeri, who will take over as both American Express' CEO and chairman of the board. Squeri, 58, is currently vice chairman at American Express. Chenault took over as CEO in 2001 and guided the company through several seismic events.
Tax break differences spur partisan fight
Millions of Americans would lose a prized tax break under President Donald Trump's sweeping revamp of the tax code, but corporations would get to keep it.
The Republican proposal would eliminate the federal deduction for state and local taxes, a widely popular break used by some 44 million Americans. But corporations, which pay billions in local property levies and state income taxes, wouldn't be affected.
Republicans are determined to overhaul the nation's tax system by year's end, offering a plan that lowers the corporate tax rate from 36 percent to 20 percent and reduces the number of tax brackets. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, in my opinion," Trump said Wednesday.
But Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, said the changes need to help the middle class. "You don't give tax cuts to people like him [Trump]," he said.
United Airlines hurt by hurricanes
United Airlines' third-quarter profit fell by one-third as the carrier was rocked by hurricanes that hit its hub in Houston and other airports.
United said Wednesday it canceled 8,300 flights in the quarter. The bulk of the cancellations came after Hurricane Harvey forced the closure of Houston's largest airport, a major United hub. That was followed by Irma and Maria, which disrupted flights in Florida and the Caribbean.
The hurricanes accounted for one-third of the reduction in United's pretax income, or about $185 million.