Core and Group Health

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner offered a bullish assessment Tuesday of the chances of success for Vice President Joe Biden and a bipartisan band of lawmakers trying to craft a deal to slash the federal budget and raise the debt limit.

Walgreen Co. said Tuesday it will end a $5.3-billion-per-year relationship with Express Scripts Inc., saying Express Scripts was not paying it enough money to fill prescriptions and was trying to dictate terms of their partnership.

The nation's largest doctors' group says about one in five payments of medical claims by commercial health insurers is inaccurate, shortchanging physicians.

Louisiana lawmakers are pushing for more oversight of Gov. Bobby Jindal's plan to turn over much of the state's Medicaid program to private insurance companies.

Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. said it spent $1.1 million in the first quarter as it lobbied the federal government on numerous issues related to its business and health care reform.

Express Scripts Inc., one of the largest pharmacy benefits managers in the U.S., spent $490,000 in the first quarter as it lobbied the federal government on a host of health care issues.