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President Biden’s budget proposal will kick off monthslong spending negotiations with lawmakers. WASHINGTON—President Biden’s budget blueprint will lay out plans to save hundreds of billions of dollars by seeking to lower drug prices, raising some business taxes, cracking down on fraud and cutting spending he sees as wasteful, according to White House officials. Mr. Biden is set to release his fiscal 2024 budget plan on Thursday. Administration officials said it would propose cutting federal budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade. But the release of the budget will kick off monthslong spending negotiations with lawmakers.

President Biden’s budget plan will also outline several new prescription-drug-related proposals. WASHINGTON—President Biden’s coming budget blueprint will propose extending the solvency of a key Medicare trust fund by at least 25 years, according to the White House, in part by increasing tax rates on people earning more than $400,000 a year. The plan would raise Medicare taxes to 5% from 3.8% for those top earners and effectively expand the reach of the tax so it applies to business income as well as investments, wages and self-employment income. Mr. Biden would also redirect some existing taxes from the government’s general fund to a Medicare fund. The Medicare program provides health insurance for adults 65 and older, as well as some younger people with disabilities.

☆ Biden’s New Chief of Staff Enters as Political Rancor Heats Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Sabrina Siddiqui | Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jeff Zients is now the president’s top aide after leading the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response. WASHINGTON—On his first day as White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients dispatched an all-staff note that said governing is never easy. Many challenges await President Biden ’s top aide, including a debt-ceiling showdown, escalating tensions with China and a divided Congress that will impede the president’s agenda. It is markedly different ground for Mr. Zients, a 56-year-old former business executive who led the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response from January 2021 to April 2022 with a managerial-like emphasis on tasks and outcomes. He isn’t as steeped in the inner workings of Washington and politics as his predecessor, Ron Klain , despite taking the job as Mr. Biden prepares for a likely re-election campaign.

☆ Vince McMahon reportedly wants at least $9 billion for potential sale of WWE
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ex-WWE CEO Vince McMahon reportedly wants at least $9 billion for the company, according to Bloomberg. He has been considering a sale since his return, and several bids reportedly have been submitted. Days after McMahon's return, WWE also announced that Stephanie McMahon was resigning as co-CEO, and Khan would serve as the lone CEO going forward. Last month, Khan said reports that a sale to the Saudi Arabian fund was complete in principle "totally false." McMahon's desired $9 billion is a high ask considering the company reported $1.29 billion in sales last year, and the $9 billion price tag is about 23 times the company's operating income, according to Bloomberg.

☆ Biden Administration Calls for Nursing Homes to Disclose More Ownership Details
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration says it would make public the more detailed data it wants to collect on nursing-home ownership and management. The Biden administration on Monday proposed requiring nursing homes to disclose more information about their ownership and management to provide clarity about investments by private-equity companies or real-estate investment trusts. The proposal also would require nursing homes that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to share more information about individuals or organizations that provide administrative services or clinical consulting to nursing homes. Currently, families often don’t know what companies may provide care in nursing homes.

☆ Novavax to Sell 1.5 Million More Covid Vaccines to U.S. Government
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Liz Essley Whyte | Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. government has agreed to buy 1.5 million more doses of Novavax Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine, the company said, part of efforts preparing for the end of government purchases and the start of a commercial market for the shots. Novavax wouldn’t provide the monetary value of the deal or the price that the federal government would pay per dose.

☆ U.S. Begins Allowing Medicaid Money to Be Spent on Food
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Stephanie Armour | Kristina Peterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration has started approving state requests to use Medicaid to pay for groceries and nutritional counseling as policy makers explore whether “food as medicine” programs can lead to broad health benefits and trim costs. A growing body of research suggests that addressing food insecurity can improve health as well as deliver savings by reducing medical visits, the need for medication, or by helping control serious illness. The programs have also appealed to some GOP lawmakers who believe states should have more control over their Medicaid programs.

☆ Millions Could Lose Medicaid Coverage When Pandemic Health Emergency Ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Eric Bazail-Eimil | Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The federal government is also shifting more responsibility for the Covid-19 response to the states. Up to 15 million people could lose Medicaid coverage after the pandemic public health emergency ends on May 11, the Department of Health and Human Services said. The estimate came during a call with reporters on Thursday, when administration officials outlined what could be expected as federal officials wind down the Covid-19 health emergency declared in 2020.

Companies and the U.S. government are shelling out billions of dollars to establish a supply chain for batteries in North America, a manufacturing effort that is critical to the auto industry’s long-range plans to put more electric vehicles on the road. Batteries are the most expensive component in an electric vehicle, accounting for about one-third of its cost.

☆ Biden Proposes End to Moral Exemption for Birth-Control Coverage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration proposed an end to an exemption allowing health plans to exclude coverage of no-cost birth control on moral grounds, part of work to protect access to contraception since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The rule proposed on Monday would retain an exemption allowing private health plans and insurers to exclude contraception coverage based on religious exemptions. The Trump administration in 2018 allowed the exemptions on religious or moral grounds.

☆ Affordable Care Act Enrollments Reach Record High
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than 16.3 million people selected a plan on the ACA marketplaces, based on data released Wednesday by the Biden administration. Enrollments under the Affordable Care Act have reached an all-time high on the federal and state exchanges, helping drive the nation’s uninsured rate down to record lows despite steeper monthly premium costs. The Biden administration Wednesday provided the most comprehensive look so far at sign-up activity during the ACA’s most recent open-enrollment period, which marks the 10th for the Obama-era health law. The official sign-up window on the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, began in November 2022 and ended Jan. 15, although a number of states that run their own marketplace exchanges have later deadlines for 2023 coverage.

☆ 3 couples who drive trucks for a living reveal how they manage to stay in love while on the road
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But the Rebelos aren't influencers or travel photographers — they're truck drivers. Insider interviewed three trucking couples about how their marriages have survived — and even thrived — while driving freight across the country. "Even prisoners have a bigger cell than a truck," Deb told Insider. "Of course you love the person, but you better like that person, too," Frank Rebelo said. "You get into a little bit of an argument and you're packing all your stuff," Deb LaBree told Insider about the couple's early trucking days.

WASHINGTON—President Biden is planning to name Jeff Zients , an investor and former Obama administration official who led the White House’s Covid-19 response, to be his next chief of staff, according to people familiar with the decision. Ron Klain , Mr. Biden’s current chief of staff, is expected to step down in the coming weeks after more than two years on the job. The Washington Post earlier reported that Mr. Zients was expected to replace him. Mr. Zients didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, and the White House declined to comment.

☆ Key Covid-19 Official David Kessler to Depart Biden Administration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

David Kessler is the third high-profile member of the White House Covid-19 response brain trust to leave or announce their departure of late. David Kessler, who has helped steer the country’s Covid-19 vaccination and treatment efforts, is planning to retire and leave his position as chief science officer for the U.S. pandemic response. Dr. Kessler will exit the Biden administration as it urges more people to get a new round of Covid-19 boosters, tweaked to target the latest forms of the virus, and navigates new challenges such as monitoring the surge in Covid-19 cases in China.

☆ Key Covid-19 Official in Biden Administration to Depart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

David Kessler is the third high-profile member of the White House Covid-19 response brain trust to leave or announce their departure of late. David Kessler, who has helped steer the country’s Covid-19 vaccination and treatment efforts, is planning to retire and leave his position as chief scientific officer for the U.S. pandemic response. Dr. Kessler will exit the Biden administration as it urges more people to get a new round of Covid-19 boosters, tweaked to target the latest forms of the virus, and navigates new challenges such as monitoring the surge in Covid-19 cases in China.

☆ WWE co-CEO Stephanie McMahon resigns, Vince returns as executive chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 10 (Reuters) - World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE.N) elected former chief Vince McMahon as the executive chairman of the board on Tuesday, the company said, adding that co-chief executive officer and chairwoman Stephanie McMahon resigned from her role. Nick Khan will serve as the new WWE CEO, the entertainment firm added. Vince McMahon, 77, returned to the board last week and elected himself and two former co-presidents and directors Michelle Wilson and George Barrios to the board. loadingVince McMahon, who ran the company for four decades, said last week that the only way for WWE to fully capitalize on growing demand for content and live entertainment was for him to return as executive chairman. McMahon retired in July last year, as the company's CEO and chairman, following an investigation into his alleged misconduct.

☆ Millions Poised to Move Off Medicaid After Omnibus Bill Passage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Department of Health and Human Services is providing outreach and guidance to assist states with Medicaid’s eligibility redeterminations. WASHINGTON—Millions of people are poised to lose Medicaid coverage after the recently enacted omnibus spending bill changed the healthcare program’s enrollment rules, and congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are working to steer eligible people to other types of coverage. The coverage losses are expected because states that received extra Medicaid funding under a 2020 Covid-19 relief bill had to agree to pause beneficiaries’ eligibility verifications. The continuous enrollment in the state-federal program for the low income and disabled was set to end when the health emergency is over, likely sometime in 2023.

☆ U.S. court decision paves way for depositor case against Lebanese bank
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The court decision, issued on Dec. 15 in a case brought by Lebanese depositors against leading lender Bank Audi, overturned a lower district court's decision that said Beirut courts had "exclusive jurisdiction" to try cases against Lebanese banks. A district court dismissed their claim on the reasoning that such cases should only be heard by Lebanese courts. There was no immediate response from Bank Audi in Beirut to a request for comment filed outside business hours. Jeffrey Rotenberg, a lawyer from DLA Piper representing Bank Audi in the case, said the decision was "non-precedential." Abdelsater said the Raads wanted access to $17 million they had in savings at Bank Audi.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail, but legal watchers are wondering: Where's ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison isn't named in prosecutors' charges against Sam Bankman-FriedBut the SEC's civil suit references her statements on the relationship between FTX and Alameda. Conspiracy charges and civil claims against SBF show others in the crosshairs, legal experts said. But her rise as CEO at Alameda, Bankman-Fried's other crypto company separate from FTX, may certainly put her in investigators' sights. The SEC's complaint on Tuesday claimed that Bankman-Fried "remained the ultimate decision-maker" at Alameda, even after Ellison took over the reins. Since Bankman-Fried's crypto empire began unraveling in November however, Ellison has stayed away from the public eye.

☆ Biden Administration to Resume Mailing Free Covid Tests as Cases Rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Stephanie Armour | Brianna Abbott | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration will resume providing free Covid tests to Americans, part of a wider effort to combat the virus during the holiday season as the number of reported cases and hospitalizations is on the rise. Senior administration officials said the plan includes offering governors help with mobile and pop-up vaccination sites and releasing a pandemic playbook for nursing homes.

☆ U.S. Offers Free At-Home Covid-19 Tests Again as Cases Rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Stephanie Armour | Brianna Abbott | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration will resume providing free Covid-19 tests to Americans, part of a wider effort to combat the virus during the holiday season as the number of reported cases and hospitalizations is on the rise. Senior administration officials said the plan includes offering governors help with mobile and pop-up vaccination sites and releasing a pandemic playbook for nursing homes.

☆ U.S. Healthcare-Spending Growth Slowed in 2021, Federal Report Finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Overall spending on hospital care rose last year after Covid-19 restrictions eased. WASHINGTON—Growth in U.S. healthcare spending slowed to 2.7% last year after a 2020 surge in federal outlays on the pandemic, according to a new government report. The analysis from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says national healthcare spending grew in 2021 to $4.3 trillion.

☆ Alameda ex-CEO Caroline Ellison taps SEC's former top crypto regulator as lawyer in FTX investigation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison hired Stephanie Avakian and law firm WilmerHale to represent her in the FTX investigation, per Bloomberg. Sources close to the matter told Bloomberg that Avakian, as well as fellow WilmerHale lawyers, will represent Ellison. Avakian and WilmerHale will represent Ellison during the federal probe into her former company, Alameda Research, the trading firm and corporate sibling of fallen cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. Ellison has remained an elusive figure in the collapse of FTX, staying mum and largely unreachable during its downfall. As noted by Bloomberg, while Bankman-Fried has publicly placed blame on Alameda in numerous interviews, Ellison has stayed silent.

☆ Fintech Firms Oversaw Billions in Fraudulent Covid Aid Loans, Report Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Paycheck Protection Program program provided forgivable, low-interest loans of up to $10 million to companies with less than 500 workers. Financial technology companies oversaw a disproportionately high rate of fraudulent loans through the Paycheck Protection Program authorized by Congress to provide small business loans during the Covid-19 pandemic, a new congressional report says. The report by the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis says “at least tens of billions of dollars” from the federal loan program overseen by financial technology firms were likely given to applicants who were fraudulent or ineligible.

☆ Texas Lawsuit Challenges Key Plank of Affordable Care Act
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Employers have often supported preventive-care services because they say it helps reduce healthcare costs. WASHINGTON—A key element of the Affordable Care Act hangs in the balance as a federal lawsuit in Texas is challenging the law’s requirement that most insurers cover an array of preventive health services that range from screenings for depression to mammograms. A district court judge ruled in September that the way a federal task force determines which services are covered is unconstitutional and said the health-insurance requirement for HIV-prevention medications violated a company’s religious freedom.

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