Benefits Broker

U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) took to the Senate floor today to voice his opposition to President Obamas health care mandate that he says fails to respect the conscience rights of religious institutions.

Hammered by Republicans and the Catholic Church, the White House hinted at compromise Tuesday as it struggled to calm an election-year uproar caused by its rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control.

CVS Caremark Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings climbed nearly 4 percent as the drugstore operator's pharmacy services revenue swelled because of a long-term contract and new business.

Unum became the latest in a list of carriers and one of the market leaders to officially bail out of the business during their fourth-quarter earnings call this week.

A political firestorm over abortion and birth control spread suddenly on Tuesday. A high-ranking official resigned from the Komen breast-cancer charity after its backtracking treaty with Planned Parenthood, and Republican presidential candidates blistered the Obama administration for a recent ruling on Catholic hospitals and contraception.

For every dollar spent on over-the-counter medicines, the U.S. health care system saves $6 to $7providing $102 billion in value each year, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association finds.

Citi Investment Research analysts said Tuesday that CVS Caremark Corp. and some smaller pharmacy benefits management companies should benefit in 2012 and 2013 from the split between Walgreen Co. and leading PBM Express Scripts Inc.

A new report from actuarial consulting firm Milliman, Inc. shows a provision of the health reform law intended to tax health insurance companies to help fund coverage expansions will be paid entirely by state Medicaid programs for the portion assessed to Medicaid managed care organizations.