Core and Group Health

The Burchfield Group, a pharmacy benefit consulting and auditing firm, believes that Express Scripts, Inc.'s purchase of Medco Health Solutions will be a 'sea change' for the PBM industry.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, paid leave benefits are the most widely available benefits offered by employers, with 91 percent of full-time workers in private industry receiving paid vacations.

Health insurer Aetna Inc. said Wednesday its second-quarter net income rose 9 percent in part because it benefited from a continued slowdown in the use of health care services by its members. The company also raised its full-year earnings forecast.

WellPoint Inc.'s second-quarter net income fell 3 percent as Medicare Advantage expenses climbed, and Wall Street punished the health insurer's stock in Wednesday trading even though the company raised its 2011 earnings forecast for the second time this year.

Budget analysts said Wednesday that a Senate Democratic plan to reduce the deficit and increase the nation's borrowing authority would save $2.2 trillion over a decade, more than a rival House Republican proposal but less than promised.

Wealthy countries all over the world are dealing with debts and strained budgets as they mop up after the Great Recession and brace for the budget-busting retirement of the baby boomer generation. But the United States is in a bigger fix than almost anyone else.