Broker Regulation

Turning a usually routine announcement into a pointed rebuttal of its GOP critics, the Obama administration said Thursday that premiums for popular Medicare Advantage insurance plans will drop for 2012, while enrollment is expected to rise.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said Thursday the health care bill GOP rival Mitt Romney enacted in Massachusetts paved the way for President Barack Obama's federal health law last year and cost the state jobs.

Medicare Advantage premiums will be 4 percent lower in 2012, and enrollment is expected to rise 10 percent, according to an announcement made Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has discovered that the Bank of America Corp. has violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after it improperly fired an employee.

President Barack Obama is backing away from some deficit reduction proposals he considered during failed summer negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner even as he prepares to unveil a broad plan to tackle the nation's debt with a blend of tax revenue and lower spending on health care programs.

Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. said Wednesday that it is suing Walgreen Co., arguing the drugstore chain is trying to lure away its customers.