Consumer confidence tumbles ahead of Budget

Consumer confidence tumbles ahead of Budget

Getty Images A long-running measure of how consumers feel about their finances and the economy has fallen sharply, raising concerns that the government’s warning that the Budget will be “painful” has shaken people’s confidence. GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer has tumbled further into negative territory since the end of August. The index had been recovering after … Read more

Construction giant collapse sees 2,200 jobs cut

Construction giant collapse sees 2,200 jobs cut

Getty Images Thousands of people have lost their jobs after the UK operations of the international construction giant ISG collapsed into administration. Some 2,200 workers have been made redundant with immediate effect, joint administrators EY said in a statement on Friday. The business, owned by the US firm Cathexis, had been struggling financially for some … Read more

High insulin prices spur a federal lawsuit against three pharmacy benefit managers

High insulin prices spur a federal lawsuit against three pharmacy benefit managers

The federal government is suing some big pharmacy benefit managers over a system of drug rebates that regulators say has made the price of insulin soar for diabetic patients. Three companies that process about 80% of prescriptions in the United States — Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx — have engaged in anticompetitive practices that spur … Read more

UnitedHealth, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts sued for insulin prices: FTC

UnitedHealth, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts sued for insulin prices: FTC

The Federal Trade Commission sued the country’s three largest pharmacy benefit managers on Friday, accusing them of steering diabetes patients towards higher priced insulin in order to reap millions of dollars in rebates from pharmaceutical companies. The case accuses UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit, CVS Health’s CVS Caremark and Cigna’s Express Scripts of unfairly excluding lower cost insulin products … Read more