Georgia Blue Cross signs with Piedmont
Georgia’s largest health insurer and one of its largest hospital groups have signed a peace treaty.
Piedmont Healthcare said Monday that it completed an agreement Friday with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia.
The agreement means people insured by Anthem Blue Cross can see Piedmont physicians and use services at Piedmont hospitals without paying extra out-of-network charges.
Top managers from both sides met with Gov. Nathan Deal last week and announced a handshake agreement. The existing contract expired March 31, but now has been extended until the end of May when the new deal will begin. It runs into 2021.
Indiana-based Anthem had dropped in-network coverage April 1. But the deal is retroactive, meaning Piedmont visits and services since then will be covered at in-network rates.
Passenger fined $500 for apple
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol fined a woman $500 for not declaring she was bringing a free apple into the U.S. that she received on her Delta Air Lines flight from Paris.
Crystal Tadlock told KDVR-TV in Denver that flight attendants had passed out the apples and she placed it in her carry-on to save for her flight from Minneapolis to Denver. Her bag was randomly searched by Customs.
Tadlock said the agent asked her if her trip to France was expensive and when she said yes he told her it was about to get more expensive after charging her $500.
Delta said it recommends all passengers comply with Customs regulations.
Customs declaration forms ask passengers if they are bringing any fruits or vegetables into the country.
Home sales up 1.1 percent in March
U.S. sales of existing homes increased 1.1 percent on a monthly basis in March, which suggests buyers are undeterred by the dwindling number of properties available on the market.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that homes sold last month at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 5.60 million, up from 5.54 million in February. This sales rate is higher than the 2017 total, but March sales were down slightly over the past 12 months.
The housing market continues to be in the grip of an inventory crunch that has restricted sales and growth in home ownership. Even as the overall economy has improved, there has been a 7.2 percent decline in listing from a year ago to just 1.67 million homes. The decline in listings could bottom out later this year because there has been a recent uptick in people listing homes that are then quickly purchased. But rising mortgage rates are also making it less likely homeowners will choose to sell in order to buy another property at a higher interest rate.
Nor have gains in new construction been enough to make up for the decline in inventories.
“Demand is outstripping supply, and builders have been constrained in their efforts to add new homes by tight labor, zoning restrictions, and most recently a run-up in materials costs,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities.
Homes stayed on the market for 30 days in March, down from 34 days a year ago in a sign that the lack of inventory is prompting buyers to sign contracts quickly.
GM, Korean union reach agreement
General Motors said Monday that it had reached a tentative agreement with its South Korean labor union on measures to cut costs and allocate new car models to GM Korea factories.
The agreement between GM and its union steers the American carmaker away from filing for bankruptcy protection for its loss- making Korean unit. It also paves the way for support from the Korea Development Bank, which holds a 17 percent stake in GM Korea.
The union will vote on the deal later this week.
“Ratification of the tentative agreement is critical to our viability plan and securing support of the Korean government and our shareholders, KDB and GM,” GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem said in a statement. “The labor union has demonstrated its commitment and we continue to work with our other key stakeholders to gain their support.”
The agreement reached by GM and its union after 14 rounds of negotiations calls for freezing wages and canceling bonuses this year and cutting some benefits. GM will allocate production of new models of sport-utility vehicles to two local factories to stabilize their operations. Those models are “important new products” with big production volume that will be mostly shipped abroad, Barry Engle, GM’s executive vice president told reporters.