By Mary Ellen McIntire; Morning Consult ~ Mar 06, 2017

Drugmakers have pointed to pharmacy benefit managers as a force behind rising drug prices in the U.S., but Americans don’t appear to have a gloomier view of one industry group over the other, according to Morning Consult Brands Intelligence data.

U.S. adults don’t have significantly higher favorability rates for certain pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as opposed to pharmacies, suppliers and pharmacy benefit managers, according to surveys of more than 22,000 American adults from October to March.

By Dan Caplinger, TMF; USA TODAY ~ Mar 05, 2017
1:00 p.m. ET March 5, 2017

Two strategies that the wealthy use maximize the tax savings from IRAs.

IRAs let you invest for retirement in a tax-favored way, and like many tax breaks, IRAs are great vehicles for the wealthy to shelter their income from taxes. In particular, rich taxpayers can use two strategies that will help them build up their IRA balances during their lifetimes and then ensure that anything that goes to the IRS does so as slowly as possible.

By Mallory Shelbourne ; The Hill ~ Mar 05, 2017

President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services on Sunday said the White House believes Medicare should be guaranteed for senior citizens.

Tom Price told CBS’s “Face the Nation,” that the White House believes Medicare is a guarantee for seniors when asked about Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) recent comments that cuts to Medicare remain an “open question.”

By Megan Crouse; Wireless Week ~ Feb 28, 2017

AT&T has surpassed Verizon in brand value in 2016, taking its rival’s top spot as most valuable telecom brand in the world, based on a new report.

According to consulting company Brand Finance, AT&T grew 45 percent in 2016 to reach $87 billion. Brand Finance does not only take into account the brand value, but ranks telecoms based on brand strength, determined through factors like corporate reputation, brand strength, loyalty, and staff satisfaction.

By Suzanne Woolley; Bloomberg ~ Feb 28, 2017

A few weeks after the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives moved to kill rules allowing states to create portable retirement savings accounts, a new survey found that 75 percent of Americans support just such an option.

The response was a common refrain in a report that echoed the growing dread of living out one’s golden years in poverty.

By Laura Landro; The Wall Street Journal ~ Feb 28, 2017

For years, patients have been hearing the same message from the health-care industry: Get involved.

They’re told they need to do more to monitor their chronic conditions. They are directed to be more active in deciding what treatments to have, or whether to treat a condition at all.

That has proved easier said than done.

By Linda A. Johnson; The Associated Press ~ Feb 27, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Several big drugmakers are trying to quell the ongoing furor over high drug prices by revealing more information about their pricing and even pledging to keep a lid on increases.

No one should expect to be paying less for medicine anytime soon, experts say, though the drugmakers’ response to public pressure may help slow the rise in prices for some drugs.

By Sylvan Lane, The Hill – Feb 27, 2017

White House officials wouldn’t rule out future cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while insisting Monday that President Trump wouldn’t touch benefits for current recipients.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said the administration’s first budget outline won’t address entitlement reform, echoing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s comments on Sunday to Fox News.

By David Lawder; Reuters ~ Feb 26, 2017

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal will spare big social welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicare from any cuts, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Mnuchin said Trump would also use a major policy speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night to preview some elements of his sweeping plans to cut taxes for the middle class, simplify the tax system and make American companies more globally competitive with lower rates and changes to encourage U.S. manufacturing.

By Dana Wechsler Linden; The Wall Street Journal ~ Feb 26, 2017

Researchers are focusing on a factor that makes aging harder for men: having to let go of their sense of masculinity.

That sense includes things like the need to be strong and stoic, or that it’s weak to ask for help. The trouble is, such ideas are a bad fit with the realities of old age, leaving many senior men poorly equipped to handle the challenges that come with growing frailer, retiring, losing a spouse or even needing to disclose their ailments.