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Blanche grilled Cohen — the prosecution's star witness in Trump's New York criminal hush-money trial — about the many times that Cohen insulted both Trump and himself on social media. Blanche said as he questioned Cohen about an April 23 TikTok Cohen made just days after the historic trial began. While questioning Cohen, Blanche then asked him about his referring to Trump as "a boorish cartoon misogynist." Michael Cohen, the ex-lawyer for former President Donald Trump, departs his home in Manhattan to testify in Trump's criminal hush-money trial. Prosecutors allege Trump illegally disguised records reimbursing Cohen for a $130,000 hush-money payment made to Daniels ahead of 2016 election.

Persons: —, Donald Trump's, Todd Blanche, Michael Cohen, Blanche, Cohen, Trump, douchebag, TikTok Cohen, Cohen deadpanned, Donald Trump, Mike Segar Cohen's, Juan Merchan, Jvlebw8A1O, Jacob Shamsian ⚖️, Cohen's, Susan Hoffinger, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, reimbursing Cohen Organizations: Service, Business, REUTERS, MeidasTouch Network, Trump, White, Prosecutors Locations: Trump's New York, Manhattan, ., Tahoe

AdvertisementDonald Trump sits next to his attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove during the former president's criminal hush-money trial in Manhattan. Eric Trump listens as his father, Donald Trump, speaks to the media in the courtroom hallway during the former president's criminal hush-money trial. Vance listens as Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Manhattan courthouse where his hush-money trial is taking place. AdvertisementFormer President Donald Trump speaks alongside his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, during a rare joint appearance as they arrived to vote in Florida's primary election. "There was no crime," Donald Trump railed Tuesday as he spoke to reporters in the courtroom hallway.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Michael Cohen —, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Johnson, Doug Burgum, Byron Donalds, Cory Mills, Donald Trump's, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, Craig Ruttle, Trump, Johnson, Cohen, Justin Lane, Susan Hoffinger, Ohio Sen, J.D, Vance, Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama Sen, Tommy Tuberville, Brenna Bird, Steve Marshall, Mark Peterson, Michael Cohen, Florida Sen, Rick Scott, Ken Paxton, Katie Phang, Jeanine Pirro, Andrew Guiliani, Rudy Giuliani, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Giorgio Viera, reimbursing Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, I've Organizations: Service, Trump, Business, GOP, Mike Johnson , North Dakota Gov, Florida Rep, cochair, Republican, Vance , New York, Alabama, Conservative, Fox News, Getty, Prosecutors, Manhattan, Attorney's Locations: York, Manhattan, Mike Johnson ,, Florida, Cory Mills of Florida, Washington, Donalds, Ohio, Vance ,, Alabama, Iowa, Texas, Tahoe

☆ What the results of Wegovy’s longest clinical trial yet show about weight loss, side effects and heart protection
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Meg Tirrell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —New analyses of the longest clinical trial yet of the weight-loss drug Wegovy are shedding light on how quickly it helps people lose weight, how long they sustain that weight loss and how safe the medicine is over four years of use. A previous clinical trial showed even greater average weight loss for Wegovy: about 15% on average over 68 weeks, compared with 2.4% for people who got a placebo. It was sustained for up to four yearsThe results showed that the 10% average weight loss for people using Wegovy was sustained for up to 208 weeks, or four years. Patients stayed on the medicine while they sustained the weight loss. Almost 23% of people on Wegovy lost at least 15% of their body weight, compared with 1.7% on a placebo.

Persons: Wegovy, –, ”, Harlan Krumholz, Dr, Donna Ryan, Eli Lilly, wasn’t, they’d, Daniel Drucker, it’s, John Deanfield, Krumholz, Drucker, GLP, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, Yale University, Yale New Haven Hospital, drugmaker, Nordisk, Novo Nordisk, European, Obesity, Nature, Pennington Biomedical Research, University of Toronto, University College London, CNN Health Locations: Baton Rouge , Louisiana, Novo

☆ Opinion: Michael Cohen has lied. Here’s why the Trump jury can believe him
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Pecker explained that for the scheme to further benefit Trump’s campaign, he later set in motion the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump claimed Cohen made the payment on his own and not at Trump’s direction, but Hicks did not believe him. He testified that he was under the belief that Cohen needed Trump’s approval to wire any funds and that Trump was the source. Former Trump Organization accountant Deborah Tarasoff also told the jury that Trump was directly involved in reimbursing Cohen. She spoke at length about how Trump continued to focus on personal and Trump Organization business minutiae while in the White House.

Persons: Norman Eisen, “, Donald Trump, CNN — Michael Cohen, Trump, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Norm Eisen, Daniels, David Pecker, Pecker, Hope Hicks, ” Hicks, Hicks, Allen Weisselberg, ” Trump, Weisselberg, Keith Davidson, Davidson, Deborah Tarasoff, reimbursing Cohen, Tarasoff, Donald J, Eric Trump, Reimbursing Cohen Cohen, Trump’s, Jeffrey McConney, I’ve, ” McConney, Madeleine Westerhout, Westerhout, Sally Franklin, ” Organizations: CNN, Trump, American Media, National Enquirer, Trump Organization, Trump Revocable Trust, White House, White, Twitter, Facebook, Random, “ Trump, The Trump Organization Locations: Trump’s Manhattan, Manhattan, Trump, “

☆ Trump's 'multi-tasking' defense is falling apart in court
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

AdvertisementThis is one of the arguments Donald Trump's lawyers have advanced in his defense for his hush-money trial: Trump didn't do anything wrong. Cohen met with Allen Weisselberg, the now-former Trump Organization CFO, in January of 2017 to hash out how he'd get reimbursed by Trump and the Trump Organization, according to records shown at trial. Occasionally, he'd write "VOID" on one he didn't want to be paid, according to Trump Organization employee Deborah Tarassoff. If Trump had a question about a check, he'd talk with a Trump Organization employee about it, Westerhout testified. Advertisement"Am I correct that when he would sign checks, he was often multitasking?"

Persons: —, Donald, Trump, Michael Cohen, reimbursing Michael Cohen —, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, Cohen, Hope Hicks, Hicks, Susan Necheles, Madeleine Westerhout, Necheles, Westerhout, he's, — Trump, Allen Weisselberg, he'd, Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney, Trump's, Keith Schiller, Deborah Tarassoff, Tarassoff, Rhona Graff, Donald Trump, Westerhout didn't, Rebecca Manochio, Manochio, Graff, what's Organizations: Service, Business, FBI, The Manhattan, Attorney's, Trump Organization, Wall Street, Trump, Washington Post, FedEx, White, Manhattan, New York Locations: United States, New York, North Korea, Russia, Manhattan, Washington, DC, New York City, Westchester

After the judge rebuked Mr. Trump for violating a gag order and mounting “a direct attack on the rule of law,” the prosecutors provided jurors with their first look at the 34 records they say he falsified to cover up an infamous payment. Mr. Trump made the payment to his longtime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, reimbursing him for a $130,000 hush-money payoff to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, prosecutors say. Before Mr. Trump repaid Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say, he orchestrated a scheme to falsify the records. Mr. Trump, the first American president to face prosecution, is on trial for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, one for each document: 11 checks to Mr. Cohen, 11 invoices from Mr. Cohen and 12 entries in Mr. Trump’s general ledger. The invoices and ledger entries claimed that Mr. Cohen had been repaid for “legal expenses” that arose from a “retainer agreement.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Mr, Michael D, Cohen, reimbursing, Stormy Daniels, ”

☆ Too busy for hush money? Trump debuts longshot 'multi-tasking' defense during testimony by longtime assistant Rhona Graff
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The now-retired assistant, Rhona Graff, told jurors that Trump was prone to "multi-tasking" and sometimes would be on the phone at the same time he signed checks. The testimony was elicited during Graff's cross-examination by Trump attorney Susan Necheles. Related storiesThe nine checks are the only records bearing Trump's signature out of 34 checks, invoices, and business-ledger records he allegedly falsified. After Trump signed each check, it would be FedExed back to the Trump Organization's Trump Tower headquarters, scanned into the company records, and then cut and mailed to Cohen. — respectful boss to me," Graff told jurors of working alongside Trump in the Trump Organization headquarters on the 25th-floor of Trump Tower.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Rhona Graff, Trump, Trump's, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Susan Necheles, Necheles, Graff, Susan Hoffinger, Juan Merchan, Cohen, Alvin Bragg, Bragg, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Playboy Bunny Organizations: Service, Business, GOP, Manhattan, Trump, Court, Trump Organization, White, Prosecutors, Trump Tower Locations: New York, Trump

☆ Trump feared for campaign, not family, as sex scandals were caught and killed, ex-Enquirer CEO tells hush-money jury
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

When a porn star and Playboy Bunny both came forward, Trump feared for voters, not family, Pecker told jurors. Then, in swift succession and with the 2016 election just months away, a Playboy Bunny and a porn star appeared with more sex scandals. But in the months before the 2016 election, all Trump worried about was his voters, Pecker testified on his third day on the stand. "I thought his concern was with the campaign," Pecker added. Pecker told jurors he had been investigated by California officials for just this sort of thing more than a decade before Trump's 2016 campaign.

Persons: David Pecker, Playboy Bunny, Trump, Pecker, —, Donald Trump, Dino Sajudin, Bunny Karen McDougal, Stormy Daniels, Joshua Steinglass, Steinglass, Daniels, Michael Cohen, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Bragg, Dylan Howard, Trump's, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Arnold, Howard, Howard texted, Cohen, Karen, McDougal, Michael, Jeff Sessions Organizations: National Enquirer, Service, Trump, Enquirer, Trump Organization, Attorney, American Media International, AMI, Prosecutors, McDougal's, Federal, Commission Locations: Manhattan, California, Australia

☆ Hush-money judge repeatedly bench-slaps Donald Trump's lawyer over gag violations: 'You're losing all credibility!'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"You're losing all credibility," the judge railed when Blanche insisted Trump was "careful" online. "You're losing all credibility," New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan angrily told the lawyer, Todd Blanche. It was at this point that the judge accused Blanche of "losing all credibility." Blanche's arguments at Tuesday's hearing, in defense of Trump's posts, fell roughly into three categories. Blanche's third argument was that reposting attacks on trial witnesses that were originally made by others was somehow exempt.

Persons: Todd Blanche, Blanche, Trump, —, Donald Trump, Juan Merchan, Merchan, Christopher Conroy, Timothy A, Clary, Trump's, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, I've, Atilgan, Daniels, Cohen, Conroy, Jesse Watters, David Pecker, Pecker, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Alvin Bragg's, reimbursing Cohen, Karen McDougal, McDougal Organizations: Service, GOP, Prosecutors, Reuters, Trump, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Fox, Merchan, National Enquirer, Mar, Manhattan, Trump Organization Locations: Manhattan, Florida, Washington, DC

☆ Will Trump testify? What he says and why it’s a risky bet
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Video Ad Feedback Smerconish: Will Trump testify? While he is under no obligation to testify, Trump has promised he will. And the truth is that there’s no case, they have no case,” Trump said. When juries and a judge have seen Trump testify, he lostThe first Carroll trial jury in 2023 was played a videotape of Trump’s deposition by lawyers. Not a hush money case, but an election interference caseOne other key thing to note out of the prosecution’s opening statement is that they want to portray this case as an election interference case rather than a hush money case.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Michael Cohen, National Enquirer David Pecker, Cohen, Pecker, Will Trump, I’m, ” Trump, Juan Merchan, Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, E, Jean Carroll, ►, – Trump, Merchan, Hillary Clinton, Joey Jackson, Jackson, “, Jake Tapper, Will Scharf, Scharf, ”, ” Scharf, Carroll, Marla Maples, Read, Feedback Trump, Arthur Engoron, reimbursing Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Clifford, Daniels, … … …, CNN’s Paula Reid Organizations: CNN — Prosecutors, New, National Enquirer, Trump, CNN, Mar, Trump Organization, Prosecutors Locations: New York

☆ Scientists Fault Federal Response to Bird Flu Outbreaks on Dairy Farms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Apoorva Mandavilli | Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the month since federal authorities announced an outbreak of bird flu on dairy farms, they have repeatedly reassured the public that the spate of infections does not impact the nation’s food or milk supply, and poses little risk to the public. Yet the outbreak among cows may be more serious than originally believed. Officials in North Carolina have detected bird flu infections in a cattle herd with no symptoms, The New York Times has learned — information the U.S.D.A. It has been reimbursing farmers for testing, but only for 20 cows per farm that were visibly ill. This week, the department said it would begin reimbursing farms for testing cows without symptoms.

Organizations: Department of Agriculture, New York Times Locations: North Carolina

☆ AT&T reimburses customers after massive network outage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —AT&T is reimbursing customers for the nearly 12-hour network outage on Thursday, the company announced in a news release. The mobile network will issue a $5 credit to “potentially impacted” AT&T Wireless customers, which it says is the “average cost of a full day of service.”“We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down,” the company said late Saturday. The network outage, which was first reported on Thursday at 3:30 a.m. AT&T had encountered sporadic service interruptions in the days leading up to the outage, including a temporary 911 outage in some parts of the southeast. While regional disruptions to wireless service happen occasionally, prolonged nationwide outages are rare.

Persons: ” Organizations: New, New York CNN —, T Wireless, AT, T’s, Cricket Wireless, Cricket, Federal Communications Commission, Infrastructure Security Agency, CNN Locations: New York, United States

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota is set to take the federal government to trial Thursday for the costs of responding to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, the culmination of an unusual and drawn-out court fight. The state filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking $38 million from the federal government for policing the protests. In an interview, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said the trial will show examples of numerous requests to the federal government for help and the “complete refusal” to offer resources and financial support in response. North Dakota relied on compacts to bring in law enforcement officers from around the region and the country for help, he said. The document laid out options of denying the easement and removing or abandoning the line's river segment, granting the easement with no changes or with additional safety measures, or rerouting the pipeline north of Bismarck.

Persons: Daniel Traynor, General Drew Wrigley, ‘, ” Wrigley, Kyle Kirchmeier, ”, Kirchmeier, North Dakota ”, Wrigley, Donald Trump Organizations: N.D, Dakota, Pipeline, U.S, North Dakota, U.S . Justice Department Locations: BISMARCK, North Dakota, Missouri, State, Morton, United States, Bismarck

☆ As online romance scams rise, banks ask for help to save victims billions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The banking industry is seeking help from the federal government and the social media industry to stop an escalating crisis that's costing Americans billions of dollars every year: online romance scams. These digital crimes have proliferated since the pandemic, as criminals pose as attractive partners and reach out to lonely Americans on social media. "We need the social media companies to shut down these people that are putting these out there. The romance scams are run by organized criminal gangs, often based in Southeast Asia, that set up phony social media avatars and use those to connect to potential American victims. Erin West, deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County, California, estimated that between $30 billion and $50 billion was lost to romance scams in 2022.

Persons: Paul Benda, Benda, I've, Scammers, We're, We've, Banks, Erin West, they'd, there's, Bria Cousins Organizations: American Bankers Association, CNBC Locations: Southeast Asia, Santa Clara County , California

☆ Opinion | This Immigration Bill Was Never Going to Fix the Border
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Sunday, lawmakers in Washington released the first major bipartisan bill to reform immigration policy in a decade. The nation already spends more money on border policing than at any other point in its history. In the last two decades, Customs and Border Protection’s budget has almost tripled and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s budget has doubled. Today, the Department of Homeland Security pays for over 19,000 Border Patrol agents, a similar number of ICE officers and expensive contracts with private companies that quickly sift through enormous amounts of data. The bill, which President Biden supports, would set aside nearly $4 billion for Customs and Border Protection, the Homeland Security division that includes Border Patrol, to prepare for a “migration surge” by hiring new staff members, reimbursing the Defense Department for its help and paying for Border Patrol agents’ overtime.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Biden Organizations: Border, Customs, Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, Homeland Security, Defense Department Locations: Washington, United States

It is the first advertising company to reach a major settlement over the toll of opioids in the U.S. It faced a lawsuit in at least Massachusetts but settled with most states before they made court claims against it. James' office said the materials played up the abuse-deterrent properties of OxyContin and promoted increasing patients' doses. As part of the settlement, Publicis agreed to release internal documents detailing its work for Purdue and other companies that made opioids. The first began after OxyContin hit the market in 1996 and was linked mostly to prescription opioids, many of them generics.

Persons: Letitia James, Publicis, James, Bob Ferguson, Rosetta, ” Publicis, Sackler, OxyContin Organizations: Publicis, Publicis Groupe, New York, Purdue Pharma, Washington, Purdue, State Pharmacy, U.S, Supreme Locations: Paris, U.S, Massachusetts, Connecticut

☆ GOP Sees Skulduggery in Hunter Biden Paying His Father Back for Truck
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Annie Linskey | C. Ryan Barber | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hunter Biden and President Biden in Washington earlier this year. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Associated PressWASHINGTON— Hunter Biden paid his father, Joe Biden, three installments totaling a little more than $4,000 in 2018 from a business account that held funds from his Chinese business dealings, according to documents released by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. While House Republicans said the money transfers link President Biden, who wasn’t in office at the time, to his son’s business activity in China, Democrats said they merely showed Hunter Biden reimbursing his father for some payments his father was making on a 2018 Ford F-150 Raptor that Hunter Biden was using.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden, Andrew Harnik, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden, Joe Biden Organizations: Associated Press WASHINGTON, Republicans, Ford Locations: Washington, China

☆ CVS to change how it prices prescription drugs with new pharmacy reimbursement model
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CVS Health on Tuesday said it will revamp how it prices prescription drugs and scrap a complex model that typically sets how much pharmacies get reimbursed and what patients pay for those medications. CVS' new model could change the cost of prescription drugs for some patients, but it will not necessarily make all medicine cost less, company executives said. Lynch told CNBC: "It's a cost plus markup, plus a fee. Billionaire Mark Cuban last year launched an online pharmacy that takes a similar approach to CVS' new reimbursement model. The company, called Cost Plus Drugs, aims to drive down the price of medicines broadly by selling them at a set 15% markup over their cost, plus pharmacy fees.

Persons: Karen Lynch, Lynch, Prem Shah, markups, Billionaire Mark Cuban, Cuban Organizations: CVS Health, CVS, CNBC, Billionaire

☆ DeSantis board accuses Disney of controlling previous one with gifts
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It found the board was "inverted to serve Disney," which held voting control of the prior board of supervisors. The Central Florida Oversight Board will meet Wednesday to vote whether to accept the report, which was prepared for the board by a group of experts. In what Disney described as retaliation, the Florida legislature in February replaced the old board with a new Central Florida Oversight District, whose five supervisors are handpicked by DeSantis. In April, Disney sued Florida in federal court, claiming DeSantis and his allies of "weaponizing" state government to punish Disney for exercising its free speech rights. The DeSantis-appointed oversight board counter-sued in state court, seeking to void the "backroom deals" favorable to the entertainment giant.

Persons: Octavio Jones, Ron DeSantis, Walt Disney's, Disney, DeSantis, flagrantly, John Classe, Dawn Chmielewski, Ken Li, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Walt Disney, REUTERS, Walt, Disney, DeSantis, Central, Central Florida Tourism, Florida Oversight, Reuters, American Express, Florida, Thomson Locations: Orlando , Florida, U.S, Florida, Reedy, Central Florida, New York

In truth, negotiators have been working for months and hope to release the text of a final bill as soon as this week. The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is one of the few major pieces of legislation Congress passes every year, a practice started in 1961. The Democratic-led Senate's version of the bill, which passed with broad support from both parties, did not address such issues. "The House bill includes several provisions to require accountability from this administration and to end the 'woke' policies being forced on service members by left-wing bureaucrats," Rogers said. Representative Adam Smith, the top House Armed Services Democrat, called for compromise, saying, "Threatening the ability of DoD to function as we force our way to get what we want is a dangerous game to play."

Persons: Leah Millis, Mike Rogers, Rogers, Adam Smith, Patricia Zengerle, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: U.S . Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, House Armed Services Committee, National Defense, Ukraine, Republican, Democratic, Republicans, Armed Services Democrat, DoD, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S

I asked financial planners where I could invest my money other than the stock market. Early last year, when I finally decided to invest some of the cash sitting idle in my high-yield savings account, I turned to the stock market. I've come a long way since then, optimizing my stock market strategy to include studying earnings reports and being more strategic with my picks. Real estateA good amount of my friends have turned to real estate investing over the past few years. "You can invest in real estate through REITs — Real Estate Investment Trusts — which pool together investor money to purchase, and sometimes operate, different forms of property.

Persons: —, Jason Dall'Acqua, Carolyn Yun, Privately, Yun, Get, Marguerita Cheng, Cheng Organizations: Service, Investment, SEC, Venture Locations: REITs —

☆ How Biden's new student-loan forgiveness plan is trying to keep away some of the lawsuits that threatened the debt relief the first time around
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Education Department is beginning its second round of negotiations for student-debt relief this week. AdvertisementAdvertisementPresident Joe Biden's Education Department is trying to ensure its second plan for student-debt relief can stand up against legal challenges. "This administration is taking another critical step to advance the President's goal of delivering debt relief to as many borrowers as possible. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Following the lead of Republican plaintiffs who filed suit in court, six Supreme Court justices wrongly blocked the President's first attempt of student debt relief," he said. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn September 2022, about a month after Biden announced his first broad relief plan, the Education Department updated its guidance to state that FFEL borrowers would no longer qualify for the relief.

Persons: —, Joe Biden's, Economic Mobility Robert Gordon, Biden Organizations: Department, Service, Joe Biden's Education Department, Education Department, Higher, Republican, Economic Mobility, Family Education, guaranty, Politico

☆ Exclusive: Cigna explores shedding Medicare Advantage business -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( David Carnevali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cigna is working with an investment bank to evaluate options for its Medicare Advantage business, which could fetch several billions of dollars in a potential divestment, the sources said. Cigna's Medicare Advantage business generated 4.4% of the company's $179.4 billion in revenue from external customers in 2022. Cigna also said profit margins in Medicare Advantage in 2023 continue to be below its long-term target of 4% to 5%, which it expected to remain the case in 2024. Cigna has said it expects changes to the government's star rating system, which informs some of the reimbursement decisions, will lead to a decrease in the rating of its Medicare Advantage business in payment-year 2024. Cigna said in September it would pay about $172 million to settle charges from U.S. prosecutors that it overcharged the Medicare Advantage program by making patients appear more ill than they actually were.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Cigna, Goldman Sachs, David Carnevali, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Cigna, Reuters, Medicare, U.S . Centers, Services, U.S . Department of Health, Human Services, Thomson Locations: Queens , New York City, U.S, HealthSpring, Bloomfield , Connecticut, New York

The best money advice is usually boring and unsexy, which explains why no one wants to hear it. The best money advice is decidedly unsexy. Although the purpose of an HSA is to save money for inevitable healthcare expenses, you can just as easily use your HSA as an investing tool. Also, if you leave your HSA money in your account until age 65, you can withdraw your HSA funds for non-medical expenses at any point. The person who started investing at 25 will have roughly $162,000 in their account, while the person who started at 35 will only have $89,000.

Persons: Rachel Wooten, maxing, —, Wooten, you'll, doesn't, stashed Organizations: Service, CPA, Flint Group

☆ TSB leads UK banks in reimbursing customers conned by fraudsters
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - TSB came top among Britain's main banks in reimbursing customers conned by fraudsters, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said on Tuesday in its first public survey of how individual lenders handle fraud. "This provides better information for customers on how firms handle APP fraud and encourages these firms to take more action to tackle it." UK Finance, a banking industry body, said the financial services sector invests more in countering fraud than anyone else, and is the only sector that reimburses victims. "What today’s data from the PSR does not show is where fraud starts," UK Finance said in a statement. Over 90% of authorised fraud begins online, over the phone, through social media or fake messages, but tech and telecom companies bear no responsibility for reimbursing victims, UK Finance said.

Persons: fraudsters, Chris Hemsley, Hemsley, Huw Jones, Jason Neely Organizations: TSB, Payment Systems, PSR, Sabadell, Nationwide, HSBC, Finance, Thomson

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