Recently, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) quipped on the floor of the House that the GOP health care plan amounted to: "1) Don’t get sick, and 2) If you do get sick, die quickly." Yesterday, John Boehner (R-OH), the top GOP man in the House, finally unveiled the official GOP plan...and did little to disprove Rep. Grayson. The GOP plan would allow firms like WellPoint (WLP) and Aetna (AET) to continue to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It would not offer any subsidies to the working poor to help them get covered, and would not require people to buy health insurance, or for employers to offer it. It would make it harder for people to sue if they are injured by medical malpractice. The use of contingency fees by lawyers in malpractice suits would be strictly limited. Thus, for example, if the doctor misread your ...

Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) announced third-quarter earnings of 81 cents per share, in-line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as last year's profit. Revenues, however, increased 3% to $5.6 billion with product revenues increasing 3.1% to $5.5 billion.   The company reports revenues from two segments: Pharmacy Business Management (PBM) and Emerging Markets (EM). PBM product revenue consists of revenues from the sale of prescription drugs by retail pharmacies in the company’s retail pharmacy networks and revenues from the dispensing of prescription drugs from the company’s home delivery and specialty pharmacies. EM product revenues consist of distribution of certain fertility drugs and revenues from drug distribution services.   PBM revenues increased 3.5% to $5.3 billion with network pharmacy revenues increasing by 3.4% mainly due to higher claims volume that were partially offset by price decreases. New clients contributed to the increase in claims volume. Meanwhile, generic fill rate increased to ...

• Visa (NYSE:V) reported earnings of 74 cents a share, 3 cents above Zacks estimates on revenues of $1.9 billion above estimates of $1.8 billion. The company expects 2010 revenue growth at the lower end of its 11-15% range, but 2011 growth above 20%

• International Paper (NYSE:IP) reported third quarter results of 37 cents a share, 14 cents above Zacks estimates, on inline revenues of $5.92 billion, off 13.1%. According to the company, at the end of its third quarter, "we began to see some modest improvements in demand in some segments of our paper and packaging businesses"

• Yahoo's (NASDAQ:YHOO) analyst meeting is due to be held at 11:00 ET

• Arcelor Mittal (NYSE:MT), the world's largest steel company, reported a $903 million third quarter profit, noting "We have seen the first signs of recovery in the third quarter...We should continue to see further gradual improvement through 2010, although the operating

...

The mounting cost of health care may end up being the biggest single financial challenge faced this century, not only by America, but by most of the industrialized world. In spite of the many and varied approaches tried, it’s clear that no country has the issue fully resolved. Every mix of government and private administration, every attempt to balance the needs of the people with the needs of the medical industry, including doctors, hospitals, insurers, and biotechnology providers, comes up short.

Another thing is clear. By virtually any measure, the United States spends more on healthcare than any other country, over $2 trillion each year, roughly $10,000 per person. Moreover, there is no consensus on the reason for this, or what can be done about it. In the ongoing search for an answer, analysts and politicians have pointed the finger at a range of possible causes, including:

• The duplication of administrative

...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a target of month's end to enact health care legislation, while in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to complete legislation by the end of the first week in August. However, progress towards clarifying the way forward remains cloudy with yet another setback in Congress on Thursday, when a key group of House Democrats demanded changes in legislation, claiming the emerging bill "lacks a number of elements essential to preserving what works and fixing what is broken." This followed concerns about a proposed new tax on generous health insurance benefits provided by some employers raised earlier in the week. On a positive note for the government, leaders from hospital industry trade groups were expected to appear with Vice President Joe Biden to announce that hospitals are ready to give up about $155 billion over 10 years in government payments, with ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 29, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Industry Outlook. Today's interview is with senior analyst Chris Kallos, who talks about the Healthcare Industry, including BioScrip, Inc. (BIOS), WellPoint (WLP) and NovaMed Inc. (NOVA).

A synopsis of today's Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

Health technology holds promise of improved operating efficiencies for many parts of the healthcare industry, hospitals included. However, in the short term those that stand to benefit the most from the stimulus are the companies whose business models are based on information technology platforms.

One such company is BioScrip, Inc. (BIOS) , a specialty pharmacy services provider and pharmacy benefit manager. Bioscrip operates two interrelated business segments, namely: Specialty Services, which is comprised of specialty pharmacy distribution and clinical management

...

Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) is reportedly nearing a cash and stock deal to buy WellPoint's (NYSE:WLP) pharmaceutical-benefit management arm for $4.68 billion, making it the fourth-largest healthcare deal year-to-date.

The Government has reportedly requested General Motors (NYSE:GM) to prepare its bankruptcy filing by June 1, increasing speculation that the company may default on its bonds.

Ebay (NASDAQ:EBAY) may purchase a 34.2% interest in South Korean rival Gmarket (NASDAQ:GMKT) for $413 million.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) will announce additional layoffs, mainly in Switzerland.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) plans to introduce a new and larger-screen Kindle, an electronic-book reader.

Office Max (NYSE:OMX) received an analyst upgrade from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), with a price target of $5.75.

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) with a $12 price target.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) ...

Tudor Hedge FundTudor Hedge Fund 13F Holdings AnalysisThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.Next up in the macro hedge fund tracking series we have Tudor Investment Corp, the brainchild of Paul Tudor Jones. Taken from Wikipedia, the bio of PTJ is as follows: "In 1980 he founded Tudor Investment Corporation which is today a leading asset management firm headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Tudor Group, which consists of Tudor Investment Corporation and its affiliates, is involved in active trading, investing and research in the global equity, venture capital, debt, currency and commodity markets. One of Jones' earliest and major successes was predicting Black Monday in 1987, tripling his money during the event due to large short positions. Jones uses a global macro ...

Known to skip monthly management team meetings for her daughter’s birthday and to reschedule a board meeting so she could attend her daughter’s 4th grade play, Angela Braly at 46 is one of the youngest women CEOs, as well as the only one running a Fortune 50 company. With three children, Angela managed the family life balance through a suggestion by her husband that he become a stay at home dad.

Rather than ‘coming from nowhere’ to take the CEO position, Angela has a long history of health care involvement, first working passionately for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, then setting up a foundation for uninsured Missourians, becoming General Council for RightChoice, the parent company for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri. RightChoice was acquired by Wellpoint, and Angela became CEO of Wellpoint’s Missouri operation. In 2005 Angela became General Counsel of Wellpoint in

...

Aetna is moving to China! Not exactly, but it is opening a "representative office" in Shanghai. Cigna, UnitedHealth, and WellPoint already have offices in China and are hoping that China will help jump start their businesses.