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☆ Health insurer stocks slide as final Medicare Advantage rates disappoint
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of U.S. health insurers fell Tuesday after the Biden administration didn't boost payments for private Medicare plans as much as the insurance industry and investors had hoped. Shares of CVS Health fell more than 8% on Tuesday, while UnitedHealth Group 's stock slid nearly 7%. Shares of Elevance Health dropped more than 3% and Centene 's stock fell 6%. Meanwhile, Humana 's stock fell more than 10%. The health-care giant is far more dependent on those private Medicare plans, known as Medicare Advantage, than its rivals.

Persons: Biden, Humana Organizations: Humana Inc, CVS Health, Elevance Health Locations: Louisville , Kentucky, U.S

KQED/KFF Health News —A much-awaited treatment for postpartum depression, zuranolone, hit the market in December, promising an accessible and fast-acting medication for a debilitating illness. Miriam McDonald, who developed severe postpartum depression and suicidal ideation after giving birth in late 2019, battled Kaiser Permanente for more than a year to find effective treatment. Her doctors refused to prescribe brexanolone, the only FDA-approved medication specifically for postpartum depression at the time. Insurers’ policies for zuranolone will be written at a time when the regulatory environment around mental health treatment is shifting. In the meantime, Burkhard said, patients suffering from postpartum depression should not hold back from asking their doctors about zuranolone.

Persons: “, Meiram Bendat, ”, Joy Burkhard, KP’s, Kaiser, Miriam McDonald, ” McDonald, KP, Nico, Keith McDonald, brexanolone, “ Kaiser Permanente, ” “ Kaiser, Burkhard, “ It’s, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, ” Burkhard Organizations: KQED, KFF, brexanolone, FDA, zuranolone, OB, Center, Maternal Mental, Kaiser Permanente, NPR, Department of Labor, Maternal Mental Health, Medicaid, Cal, U.S . Department of Labor, CNN, CNN Health, KFF Health Locations: ”, “ Kaiser, California

☆ Options traders are heavily trading this health stock ahead of a big conference this week
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Michael Khouw | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

We'll look at a health insurer stock with an interesting set-up heading into a big industry conference this week and break down various options trades being applied on it. Centene (CNC) traded nearly 9 times the average daily call volume on Friday ahead of Barclays 26th annual Global Healthcare Conference this week. Most active were the March 22nd weekly $82 calls and the March 28th weekly $82 calls. The mid price on the March 28th weekly $82 calls was nearly $2, substantially higher than the trader who initiated the block paid, and the weekly March 22nd calls would collect less than a quarter. If one owns the stock, a hedge might make sense, such as a weekly at-the-money put spread as illustrated below.

Persons: Bernstein, Centene, Cowen, what's Organizations: Barclays, Global Healthcare, Traders Locations: Texas, Florida, Georgia

☆ Goldman Sachs says these names offer the best stock picking opportunities going forward
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Goldman Sachs said the stock market performance has been driven by company specific factors rather than the macroeconomic environment, and the Wall Street firm identified a host of names that it said offer the most attractive microeconomic setups. The investment bank used a so-called " dispersion score " for each S & P 500 stock to identify "the best stock-picking opportunities going forward." It's important to note that stocks with high dispersion scores reflect a large alpha opportunity , but not necessarily in one direction or the other, meaning a stock can have outsized outperformance or underperformance. Goldman found that among the 11 S & P 500 sectors, consumer discretionary and technology groupings offer the best stock picking opportunities based on their dispersion scores, while real estate and utilities have the lowest scores, hence less chance of generating alpha. Stocks with the highest dispersion scores in the benchmark stock index are Monster Beverage , DexCom , Akamai Technologies , Centene and Align Technology , according to Goldman.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, David Kostin, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Street, Monster Beverage, Akamai Technologies, Technology

☆ 8 more of our stocks report earnings next week. Here's what we want to see
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

The three major averages posted gains for the fourth week in row, lifted by strong quarterly earnings results for most of the Big Tech companies and a strong jobs report. A weaker ADP Employment report on Wednesday provided no read-through to the monster January jobs report Friday. Here's what we're keeping an eye on in the coming week: 1. Earnings: It's another big earnings week head for the portfolio, with 8 more of our companies reporting. Consistency is what we appreciate most from nat gas giant Linde , so we're hoping for another quarter of solid earnings growth Tuesday.

Persons: Estee Lauder, Eli Lilly, Mounjaro, Nelson Peltz, Estée Lauder, Tyson, CARR, Jacobs, Willis Towers Watson, Edwards, Walt Disney, Oscar Health, Philip Morris, Armour, BAX, BILL, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, George Frey Organizations: Big Tech, Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq, PMI, Apple, Starbucks, Procter, Gamble, GE Healthcare, DuPont, Linde, Ford, General Motors, Trian Partners, Disney, ESPN, Wynn Resorts, Wynn, Vegas, Prix, Estée Lauder Companies, Caterpillar, McDonalds Corp, Allegiant Travel, Bowlero Corp, Tyson Foods, TSN, Air Products & Chemicals, IDEXX Laboratories, CNA Financial Corp, CNA, Timken Company, Graham Corporation, Mesa Laboratories, Sphere Entertainment, Loews Corp, Technologies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Semiconductors, Simon Property Group, Amkor Technology, FMC Corporation, FMC, BellRing Brands, Crown Holdings, ChampionX Corporation, Golub Capital BDC, Flexsteel Industries, Kilroy Realty Corp, Gladstone Capital Corp, Unibanco, S.A, Snack Foods Corp, Kimball Electronics, Skyline Corp, Cabot Corporation, Simpson Manufacturing Co, Varonis Systems, Co, GE HealthCare, Linde plc, LIN, Spotify Technology S.A, BP, Hertz Global Holdings, AeroSystems Holdings, Toyota Motor Corp, Cummins, CMI, Software Technologies, AGCO Corporation, Carrier Global Corporation, Lear Corp, CONSOL Energy, Centene Corporation, Gartner, Arcbest Corp, CTS Corporation, Energizer Holdings, Hamilton Lane Incorporated, KKR, Precision Drilling Corporation, Frontier Group Holdings, Waters Corp, Alfa Laval, Aramark Holdings Corp, FirstService Corporation, Garden Sports Corp, New Jersey Resources Corp, nVent Electric plc, PJT Partners, Resources, Sensata Technologies, Ford Motor Company, Enphase Energy, Grill, VF Corp, Edwards Lifesciences Corp, Gilead Sciences, Lumen Technologies, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, Weatherford International plc, Amcor plc, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Energy Industries, Uber Technologies, CVS Health, Roblox Corporation, Ares Capital Corp, Bunge, XPO Logistics, Scotts Miracle, Gro Company, Berry Global, Flex LNG, Equinor ASA, Griffon Corporation, OneMain Holdings, Brookfield Asset Management, Emerson Electric Co, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Reynolds Consumer Products, Silicon Laboratories, Brands, Sciences, CDW Corp, Fox Corporation, WYNN, PayPal, Arm Holdings plc, ARM, Axcelis Technologies, Mattel, Paycom, Annaly Capital Management, McKesson Corp, Health Corporation, O'Reilly Automotive, Allstate Corp, Fluence Energy, Power Systems, Digital Turbine, Blue Bird Corp, Everest Group, Omega HealthCare, Coty, COTY, ConocoPhillips, Cameco Corp, Philip Morris International, Spirit Airlines, Hershey Company, Lightspeed Commerce, Aurora Cannabis, Lincoln National Corp, P, Tenet Healthcare Corp, Asbury Automotive Group, Arrow Electronics, Baxter International, PetMed, Boyd Gaming Corp, FirstEnergy Corp, Motorola Solutions, Terex Corp, PepsiCo, Growth, AMC Networks, Owl, American Pipeline, TELUS International, Magna International, Newell Brands, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: U.S, China, Macau, Wynn Macau, Valvoline, VVV, ALFVY, Madison, New Jersey, Gilead, Ceridian, ORLY, Paycor, Aurora, Provo , Utah

☆ Humana stock plunges on dismal 2024 forecast, as insurers face soaring medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShares of Humana plummeted on Thursday after the health insurer issued dismal full-year earnings guidance, citing soaring medical costs that are dogging the broader insurance industry. The guidance adds to Wall Street's concerns about health insurance company profits falling as medical costs jump. UnitedHealth on Friday also reported its own jump in medical costs, though it was less extreme than Humana's. Its forecast dragged down other health insurance stocks. But unlike Humana, the insurer forecast 2024 earnings above estimates on Wednesday, after higher premiums in its commercial business helped control medical costs in the fourth quarter.

Persons: Luke Sharrett, Cigna, Humana Organizations: Humana Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, Humana, CVS Health, Elevance, Medicare Locations: Louisville , Kentucky, U.S

☆ A simple, low-cost protection trade for those doubting this bull market
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Michael Khouw | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

For an agonizing month, the S & P 500 toyed with the prior all-time highs of January 2022 before finally breaking through to new all-time highs on Friday. Yet here we are, reviewing the biggest trading day of the year so far, and AMD was the best-performing stock in the S & P. Nvidia was 12th. What is true is that the S & P 500 rises over time. Market Cap weighted indices, such as the S & P 500 represent the largest and generally most successful publicly traded companies. Notice that a January 2025 SPDR S & P 500 Trust (SPY) $460 strike put costs just over $16 per contract.

Persons: bender, Stocks, SPDR Organizations: AMD, Nvidia, Healthcare, Centene Corp, United Health, Enphase Energy, SEC, Investors, Apple, Microsoft, U.S . Locations: China, U.S

Rising bond yields have thrown cold water on the major averages, but a few winners may emerge even if rates remain elevated. These developments have spurred worries that the Fed policymakers could keep rates higher for longer. Bond prices and yields are inversely related, which means that as yields rise, bond prices will fall. Generally, insurers benefit when interest rates rise , since their investment portfolios will generate more yield. Shares of both real estate investment trusts, which specialize in communications services, could take a hit as higher rates make their dividends less attractive.

Persons: W.R ., Humana, Jefferies, Centene, Sherwin, Williams, Baird Organizations: Federal Reserve, CNBC Pro, Treasury Bond ETF, CME Group, Molina Healthcare, W.R, Florida Medicaid, American Tower Corporation, SBA Communications Locations: Molina, UnitedHealth, Florida

☆ Struggling insurance upstart Oscar is making a long shot bet on a Trump-era program to fuel growth
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The New York insurance company has struggled to find its footing for years. At the top of the list is this little-known Trump-era policy, which offered employers a new way to give workers health benefits. Oscar has struggled with deep lossesBertolini is the former CEO of the insurance company Aetna. The company raised its health plans' prices and renegotiated contracts with healthcare providers and vendors — including its pharmacy-benefit manager — to lower expenses. In the future, Oscar plans to design specific health plans that cater to those types of customers.

Persons: —, Joshua Kushner, Mario Schlosser, Oscar, it's, Mark Bertolini, It's, Bertolini, Trump, Ari Gottlieb, Elijah Nouvelage, haven't Organizations: Service, Business, New, Morgan Healthcare, Aetna, Reuters, HRAs Locations: New York, ICHRAs

☆ Here are Wall Street’s favorite stocks into November — all expected to rise more than 20%
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Heading into November, CNBC screened for Wall Street's favorite stocks out of the S & P 500, or stocks that met the following criteria: Consensus 12-month price target calls for a 20% or more upside. The average analyst surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, has a consensus potential upside of 23% on T-Mobile . The consensus price target for the stock implies a forecast upside of almost 24%. In October, Morgan Stanley named the stock as one of its favorite stock picks in a slowing, late-cycle economy. Other names beloved by Wall Street and highlighted in our screen include Targa Resources , Halliburton and Centene .

Persons: Stocks, Wall, Morgan Stanley Organizations: Dow Jones, Nasdaq, CNBC, LSEG, Mobile, Energy, Oil, Wall, Resources, Halliburton, Centene

☆ Earnings calls reveal how companies ranging from Coca-Cola to JPMorgan are capitalizing on AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The craze around AI kicked off late last year with the launch of ChatGPT, and dozens of technology companies from Alphabet to Meta Platforms have thrown a hat into the ring . Many companies have utilized AI or machine-learning tools in the past to streamline their businesses. For pharmacy giant Walgreens Boots Alliance and soda maker Coca-Cola , AI is helping improve supply chains, forecast demand and in some cases, predict spending. Centene , UnitedHealth and Elevance Health all highlighted ways they are implementing AI to improve customer offerings. Financials Major financial and banking companies are also finding ways to capitalize on AI to improve efficiencies and their bottom line.

Persons: Gary Guthart, Elevance, UnitedHealth, Erica, Moody's, Andrew Schlossberg, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, That's Organizations: CNBC Pro, Consumer, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Supply, Microsoft, Health, Elevance, Bank of America, Google, Mastercard, JPMorgan

☆ Morning Bid: Big Tech reports as bond yields recoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The two tech giants report after the bell on Tuesday, with Meta (META.O) following on Wednesday and Amazon (AMZN.O) on Thursday. Partly lifted by the year's artificial intelligence craze, the tech behemoths have clearly flattered year-to-date gains of 10% in the overall S&P500. And yet the seemingly endless squeeze in bond markets since midyear has seen megacap indexes (.NYFANG) retreat some 12% from their highs for the year. The upshot of the whole picture is to give U.S. stock futures a lift ahead of the open on Tuesday - with Asia and European bourses in positive territory too as bond markets stabilised. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields held about 4.83% - some 19 basis points below Monday's peak at 5.02%.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Mike Dolan, Bill Ackman, Clark, Chubb, Paccar, Centene, Sherwin, Williams, Archer, David Evans Organizations: NVIDIA Corp, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Mike Dolan Big Tech, Microsoft, Meta, Treasuries, U.S, Bank of England, Treasury, Britain's FTSE, Barclays, P Global, Richmond Fed, Philadelphia Fed, Texas Instruments, Verizon, General Electric, NextEra Energy, HCA Healthcare, General Motors, Halliburton, Dow, Waste Management, Daniels, Midland, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Gaza, United States, Asia, European, Britain's, Philadelphia, Danaher, Fiserv, Kimberly, Spotify, Dover, Nucor

☆ These are the most oversold stocks during a harsh September for the market
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Conversely, a reading lower than 30 typically means a stock is oversold and could be a signal of a possible buying opportunity. MGM YTD mountain MGM in 2023 Realty Income is the most oversold company in the S & P 500, scoring the lowest RSI of the lot at 5.19. Other oversold stocks include Boeing , discount retailer Dollar General and cloud software company Salesforce . Travelers Companies is the most overbought stock in the broad-based index with an RSI of 79.89. Big-name health-care and insurance company UnitedHealth Group , with a market cap of $469.26 billion, has a 14-day RSI of 75.54.

Persons: Wells Fargo, Chubb Organizations: Nasdaq, Dow Jones, CNBC Pro, MGM Resorts, MGM, Culinary Workers Union, Wynn Resorts, Wall Street, Netflix, Hollywood, Boeing, Dollar, Travelers Companies, . Insurance, UnitedHealth, Pharmaceutical, Humana, Arch Capital Group Locations: Vegas

☆ These 5 Club stocks have defied the S&P 500's recent slide
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

September has been unkind to stocks – living up to its historical reputation as the weakest month for the S & P 500 . Still, some Club stocks have been able to buck the downward trend since the start of the month — and none more so than Humana (HUM). The health insurer advanced 7.3% through Friday's close, putting it among the top-10 performing stocks in the S & P 500 over that stretch. In a year largely characterized by outperformance in technology stocks, health care has been one of the worst S & P 500 sectors . The stock entered Monday's session down more than 11% in 2023, the third-worst of any Club stock.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Jim, Centene, Molina, it's, Ford's outperformance, –, Shawn Fain, Ford, Honeywell's outperformance, Vimal, Morgan Stanley, Kupar, Darius Adamczyk, Jim Cramer's Organizations: Federal Reserve, Treasury, CVS Health, Molina Healthcare, McKesson Corp, Humana, Costco Wholesale, Ford, Costco, Club, Detroit, General Motors, Chrysler, United Auto Workers, GM, UAW, Reuters, Honeywell International, Meta, Street Journal, Morgan, CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, View Press, Getty Locations: Friday's, Kupar, New York

Benefit consultants from Mercer, Aon (AON.N) and Willis Towers Watson (WTW.O) see employer healthcare costs jumping 5.4% to 8.5% in 2024 due to medical inflation, soaring demand for costly weight-loss drugs and wider availability of high-priced gene therapies. Benefit consultants help design insurance plans for medium and large employers. About two-thirds of U.S. workers receive benefits through such plans.Insurers UnitedHealth (UNH.N), Centene (CNC.N), Cigna (CI.N) and Elevance (ELV.N), which manage employer insurance plans, declined to comment for this story. Of its projected 8.5% increase in employer healthcare costs for next year, Aon anticipates 1 percentage point coming from weight-loss drugs alone. Gene therapy treatment of just one employee could significantly raise costs for a company, consultants said.

Persons: Srdjan, Willis Towers Watson, Mercer, Marsh McLennan, Beth Umland, Aon, Novo's Ozempic, Eli Lilly's, Janet Faircloth, Jodi Picoult's, Khushi Mandowara, Leroy Leo, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, Reuters Graphics, Novo, Reuters, Employers, Thomson Locations: Ljubljana, Mercer, Aon, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Netflix, Nvidia, Alphabet, FedEx, Tesla & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

While this reads through positively for spot BTC ETF approvals, it remains unclear if this will be a net positive for Coinbase's P & L." Citi reiterates FedEx as a top pick Citi said FedEx has "parcel pricing power." Wells Fargo reiterates Spotify as buy Wells said it's standing by its overweight rating on shares of the streaming company. Citi reiterates Apple as buy Citi said it's bullish heading into Apple's iPhone event on Sept. 12. Wells Fargo reiterates Netflix as overweight Wells said it's standing by its overweight rating on the streaming giant. "We initiate coverage of Atour with an Overweight rating and a price target of US$36, implying > 80% potential upside."

Persons: Morgan Stanley downgrades Centene, Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen downgrades Ambarella, Wells, it's, Bernstein, Melius, Guggenheim, Tesla, Evercore Organizations: Wednesday, Barclays, SEC, BTC, Citi, FedEx, UPS, Transports, FLNC's Services, HSBC, Spotify, Apple, Texas, Rockwell Automation, ROK, UW, Netflix, Nvidia, Bank of America, Google, Tesla, Energy Locations: China, Europe, Ohio Utica, Oklahoma

☆ The Investing Club's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Citigroup maintains a buy rating on Club name Apple (AAPL) ahead of its Sept. 12 product event, while reiterating a $240-per-share price target on the stock. As ever, Apple is an "own it, don't trade it" stock ahead of the product launch. Morgan Stanley downgrades Centene (CNC) to equal weight, from overweight, while lowering its price target on the stock to $73 a share, down from $94. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Persons: Stocks, —, Johnson, Morgan Stanley downgrades Centene, Morgan Stanley, Bernstein, James Hollingshead, Wolfe, BUD, Bud Light, KeyBanc, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim Organizations: ADP, Federal Reserve, Labor, Citigroup, Apple, Citi, FedEx, Health, Humana, Bernstein downgrades Texas, Wolfe Research, NFL, Anheuser, Busch InBev, Molson Coors Beverage, Constellation Brands, Google, Club, Nvidia, HP Inc, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC Locations: U.S

CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. The regional health insurance provider will still retain CVS Caremark for managing specialty drugs, which are costly medications used to treat complex conditions like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. Other analysts highlighted difficulties in shifting to a different model than the one offered by companies like CVS - which provide other services including home drug delivery and reimburse pharmacies for patients' prescriptions. Amazon Pharmacy will provide at-home delivery of prescription drugs as well as upfront pricing, while Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company will provide access to generic drugs, Blue Shield said. Blue Shield of California's other partners include privately held Abarca for processing claims related to prescription drugs, while smaller PBM Prime Therapeutics will work to negotiate savings with drugmakers.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Mark, Elizabeth Anderson, J.P, Morgan, Lisa Gill, Gill, Blue, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Frances Kerry Organizations: CVS, REUTERS, Amazon, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Evercore ISI, Mark Cuban, Plus, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Blue Shield of California drops CVS, taps Amazon and others to lower drug costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Blue Shield, whose health plans cover 4.8 million members, said it will now work with five different companies, including Mark Cuban's drug company, to provide "convenient, transparent access to medications while lowering costs." Privately held Abarca will pay prescription drug claims, while Prime Therapeutics will work with Blue Shield to negotiate savings with drugmakers, the company said. Blue Shield will also work with CVS Caremark for specialty pharmacy services. The loss of the Blue Shield pharmacy benefit management contract is another blow to Caremark, which is also set to lose the contract to manage Centene's (CNC.N) $40 billion annual pharmacy needs from next year.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, UnitedHealth, Mark Cuban's, Paul Markovich, Mark, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai Organizations: CVS, REUTERS, Blue, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Pharmacy, Wall Street, Mark Cuban, Plus, Thomson Locations: Blue, Bengaluru

☆ Blue Shield California drops CVS; picks Amazon, others to lower drug price
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CVS Health logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Non-profit health plan provider Blue Shield, which has 4.8 million members, said it will work with partners including Amazon.com and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company to provide at-home delivery and access to low-cost medications. Privately held Abarca will pay prescription drug claims, while Prime Therapeutics will work with Blue Shield to negotiate savings with drugmakers, the company said. Blue Shield will also work with CVS Caremark for specialty pharmacy services. The loss of Blue Shield marks another blow to Caremark, which is also set to lose the contract to manage Centene's (CNC.N) $40 billion annual pharmacy needs from next year.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Cuban's, Privately, Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny, Bhanvi, Shweta Agarwal, Pooja Desai Organizations: CVS, REUTERS, Wall Street Journal, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Company, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ CVS stock plunges after Blue Shield of California drops retailer's pharmacy services to save on drug costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of CVS Health plunged 9% on Thursday after Blue Shield of California said it will drop the company's pharmacy benefit management services and instead partner with Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company and Amazon Pharmacy to save on drug costs for its nearly 5 million members. Blue Shield will now work with five different companies to provide "convenient, transparent access to medications while lowering costs." Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich said the plan, which is scheduled to fully launch in 2025, could save the company up to $500 million annually. Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company will provide access to low-cost medications through retail pharmacies. Blue Shield will retain CVS Caremark for its specialty pharmacy services, which provide specialized therapies and counseling to patients suffering from complex disorders.

Persons: Mark Cuban's, Caremark, Paul Markovich, Michael DeAngelis, Centene Organizations: CVS Health, Drug Company, Amazon Pharmacy, UnitedHealth, CVS, Abarca, Blue, CNBC Locations: New York, California

☆ Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech workers said the boost could make UPS driver pay competitive with tech salaries. Some tech workers said they feel "underpaid" in comparison and others pointed out UPS drivers have difficult jobs. The average UPS driver could get six-figure pay under a new contract, and tech workers have mixed feelings about it. LM Otero/APDespite some tech workers' resentment, many workers pointed out UPS drivers work under difficult conditions. UPS workers often must work holiday shifts, which are known for being grueling as package volume increases.

Persons: Carol Tomé, TuSimple, Centene, LM Otero, Santa Claus, Claire Vo Organizations: Tech, Morning, Teamsters, UPS, Microsoft, Bloomberg Locations: LCOL, Texas, Santa

☆ Morning Bid: Bank of Japan excites, Dow unlucky, Intel jumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Specifically, the central bank said it would offer to buy 10-year JGBs at 1.0% in fixed-rate operations, instead of the previous rate of 0.5% - tolerating the wider band for bond market borrowing rates. With July core inflation in Tokyo falling back to a 10-month low, the need for tightening may be ebbing anyway. Friday's data is expected to show another drop in the Fed's favoured core PCE inflation gauge in June. For markets more broadly, Friday seems a little scattergun so far after a heavy week of macro policy and corporate news. U.S. Treasury yields fell back from two-week highs hit after the punchy U.S. economy readouts and central bank moves, with the 2-to-10 year yield curve steepening as recession fears abate.

Persons: Mike Dolan, Dow Jones bluechips, T Rowe Price, Nick Macfie Organizations: Bank of Japan, Dow, Nikkei, Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Treasury, ECB, Intel, U.S, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Proctor, Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Franklin Resources, Newell Brands, Church, Dwight, Charter Communications, Dallas Fed, University of Michigan, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wall St, Tokyo, Wall, Asia, Centene, Franklin

Companies Centene Corp FollowJuly 28 (Reuters) - Centene Corp (CNC.N) said on Friday it was working to enroll people back into government-backed Medicaid plans after the end of pandemic-relief measures left hundreds of thousands of members without coverage. Medicaid memberships, the largest contributor to Centene's revenue, were hit by the removal of pandemic-related relief measures on April 1 that rendered several members ineligible for insurance coverage. Centene lost a little more than 260,000 Medicaid members in the second quarter due to redetermination, and had around 16 million members under Medicaid as of June 30. The company on Friday, however, beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit, helped by strong membership growth in its commercial marketplace business even as a fall in Medicaid memberships hurt. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.10 per share in the second quarter, above estimates of $2.03.

Persons: Centene, Sarah London, Julie Utterback, Mariam Sunny, Leroy Leo, Shinjini Ganguli, Shounak Organizations: Centene, Wall, Medicaid, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Lightning Round: Don't touch AST SpaceMobile, says Jim Cramer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailLightning Round: Don't touch AST SpaceMobile, says Jim Cramer'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer weighs in on stocks including: AST SpaceMobile, Alexandria Real Estate, Centene, StoneCo and Incyte.

Persons: Jim Cramer Locations: Alexandria

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