Broker Regulation

U.S. spending on prescription drugs was nearly flat in 2011 at $320 billion. It was held down by senior citizens and others reducing use of medicines and other health care and by greater use of cheaper generic pills.

Steve Martin's iconic declaration doesn't exactly tell my story, but it comes painfully close. I was born poor and white in a Kansas City suburb that had more in common with trailer parks than gated subdivisions. To use the politically incorrectand still painfulvernacular, I grew up white trash.

Some insurance agents urged caution Monday as Missouri lawmakers considered changes to a state-created workers' compensation firm that has been criticized by the state auditor for taking advantage of a federal tax exemption while spending heavily on perks.

The U.S. Department of Labor is making available a $16,532,485 National Emergency Grant supplement to fund roughly 2,200 temporary jobs to continue helping cleanup and recovery efforts from the tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., on May 22, which caused flooding in multiple Missouri counties between mid-April and early June 2011.

Presenting his own vigorous legal argument, President Barack Obama on Monday issued a rare, direct challenge to the Supreme Court to uphold his historic health care overhaul.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs has recommended a proposed rule to amend the Black Lung Benefits Act that was implemented in Section 1556 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.