CVS Reportedly Looking To Buy Aetna Insurance For $66 Billion

Earlier this year, health insurance giant Aetna was left broken-hearted when its $37 billion merger with Humana fell through because federal antitrust regulators apparently hate to see two mammoth insurers so in love with each other. But in this autumn season, there’s a rare bloom of corporate romance peeking out, as Aetna has reportedly found itself a suitor in the form of CVS Health.

The Wall Street Journal — citing the ever-anonymous but always chatty “people familiar with the matter” — claims that CVS Health is angling to purchase the Connecticut-based Aetna for $200 a share, which would currently put the deal at around $66 billion.

While most people know CVS for its vast chain of retail drugstores and pharmacies, parent company CVS Health also has businesses that are more directly related to Aetna’s operations, like CVS Caremark, which operates prescription benefits management (PBM) services for thousands of health insurance plans. In the world of prescription drugs and insurance, PBMs operate in the role of middle-man, negotiating prices with drug makers for insurance providers.

Aetna attempted to acquire Humana in 2015 — around the same time of another proposed insurance mega-merger between Cigna and Anthem. In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice, along with attorneys general from nine states, filed lawsuits seeking to halt both mergers, arguing that they would result in over-consolidation and fewer choices for insurance buyers in just about every type of health insurance: Individual plans purchased through exchanges; employer-sponsored group insurance; and plans sold to supplement Medicare.

Such DOJ lawsuits often end with the merger partners calling off the deal or making concessions to appease antitrust regulators, but Aetna and Humana attempted to make their case in court. In Jan. 2017, a federal judge ruled against the insurers, saying the merger would “likely to substantially lessen competition in Medicare Advantage” in each of the 364 counties challenging the deal.

The insurers subsequently called off their engagement in Feb. 2017.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Illinois Sues Payday Lender For Forcing Employees To Sign Non-Compete Agreements

The state of Illinois has filed a lawsuit against payday lender Check Into Cash, but not for its short-term lending practices. Instead, the company is accused of exploiting its low-wage employees by forcing them to sign non-compete agreements that restrict their ability to find jobs elsewhere.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office filed a lawsuit [PDF] against Check Into Cash of Illinois — a subsidiary of the national payday lending venture — accusing the company of running afoul of state laws by imposing highly restrictive non-compete agreements on low-wage customer service employees.

According to the lawsuit, employees at Check Into Cash’s 33 Illinois locations are subject to a non-compete clause that restricts them from working for any other business that provides consumer lending services or products for one year after they leave the company.

Targeting Low-Wage Workers

The lawsuit alleges that these clauses are in violation of the Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which prohibits the use of non-compete agreements for employees earning minimum wage or less than $13/ hour.

The AG’s office contends that most of Check Into Cash’s employee make less than $13/hour, meaning they fall within the scope of the law.

Too Restrictive

Additionally, under Illinois law, non-compete agreements must be premised on a legitimate business interest and narrowly tailored in terms of time, activity, and place.

The AG’s office alleges that Check Into Cash’s non-compete clause is in violation of these requirements, as they include restrictions that cover too many different employment options and places too many limitations on the location of future employment.

For instance, consumer lending services and products can include any payday advance services; check-cashing services; pawn or title pawn services; secured or unsecured credit lending services; secured or unsecured installment lending services; or essentially any other consumer lending service or money transmission service.

The state’s lawsuit contends this is too wide-reaching, noting it could also apply to retail stores or auto dealerships that extend credit or companies like Western Union or the U.S. postal service that transmit money.

Additionally, the non-compete agreements prohibit employees from finding future employment at these types of companies if they are located within 15 miles of any office or retail location of Check Into Cash, or any location of the company’s parents, affiliates or subsidiary companies.

“Check Into Cash inappropriately tries to retain low-income workers by requiring them to sign unfair non-compete agreements that attempt to prevent workers from getting better jobs elsewhere,” Madigan said in a statement.

With the lawsuit, Madigan’s office seeks to void the non-compete clauses and prevent Check Into Cash from imposing future clauses.

Not The First

This isn’t the first time Madigan’s office has tackled unfair non-compete clauses.

In Dec. 2016, Jimmy Johns entered into a settlement with the AG’s office over the use of restricted non-compete clauses that prevented employees from working for other sandwich companies. 

Under the deal, Jimmy Johns agreed to pay $100,000 to establish education and outreach programs, putting an end to a months-old lawsuit that alleged the fast food company illegally required all employees to sign a highly restrictive non-compete agreement as a condition of employment.

The AG’s office notes that it is currently investigating other companies that have also used restrictive non-compete clauses.

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Criminals With Terrifying Baby Mask Deploy ATM Skimmers In Minnesota

As Halloween draws closer, here’s a reminder of what you should really be scared of: ATM skimmers, or devices that attach to cash machines to slurp up customers’ card numbers and PINs. You should also be afraid of adults in creepy baby doll masks. According to police in Minnesota, a recent crime there incorporates both of these terrifying prospects, with a mask-wearing suspect accused of placing skimmers on ATMs in two counties and stealing tens of thousands of dollars.

The team, a man and a woman, only try to disguise themselves in one image released to the public. Police believe that they may have traveled from out of town, and may be part of a larger skimming ring, they told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

PLEASE HELP US ID: Suspected of placing skimming devices on ATMs in the metro. Contact RCSO Investigator Picha at 651-266-7320 with info. http://pic.twitter.com/RaTWPOfwSA

— Ramsey Sheriff (MN) (@RamseySheriff) October 24, 2017

The skimmer installations were first discovered on Sept. 23 when someone (we don’t know whether it was a customer or an employee) alerted the cops to a skimming device on an exterior ATM at the City County Credit Union.

More devices were found in the following days, but police can’t be sure that they have them all. The local sheriff’s department shared tips that are useful for everyone. The sheriff’s department recommends inspecting ATMs before you begin a transaction.

“If it looks suspicious, don’t use the ATM and go inside the bank,” a sergeant with the sheriff’s department told the Star-Tribune. Alert the bank if you see something on the machine’s exterior that doesn’t look right.

We also recommend sticking to the same few ATMs when you’re at home so you’re more likely to notice parts stuck on or other oddities. It’s also a good idea to poke and pull at pieces of the device, making sure that there isn’t a false front, an extra card reader, or a pinhole camera attached to the front of the machine. Cover your hand while entering your PIN in case there’s a hidden camera.

Skimmers can also be completely invisible, which is why it’s important to keep an eye on your bank statements and immediately report any suspicious transactions.

The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office posted a Tweet with images of the suspects, but it’s the last picture, where the suspect is wearing a creepy cracked baby doll mask while fiddling with a drive-up ATM, that startles the entire Consumerist team every time that we look at it.

READ MORE:
Here’s A Gas Pump Skimmer That Texts Victims’ Card Data To Crooks
Here’s A Snap-On Bluetooth Skimmer Spotted Out In The Wild
Let’s Watch Some Promotional Videos From Makers Of ATM Skimmers
Here’s What You’ll Find Inside A Real ATM Skimmer Found In Indonesia
6 Things We Learned About Bluetooth ATM Skimmers In Mexico
Would You Have Spotted This Skimmer Found On An ATM In Mexico?
Watch Suspected Scammers Install And Harvest Data From ATM Skimmers
Tiny Bluetooth Card Skimmers Will Make You Hug Your Debit Card
A Visual 3-Step Guide To Detecting ATM Skimmers

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Some Massachusetts Residents Want State To Leave The Eastern Time Zone

If you’re like many other humans on this planet, winter’s shorter days may get you feeling a bit down from lack of sunlight. But some folks in the state are on a mission to reclaim one hour of sunlight, with a campaign to get Massachusetts to leave the Eastern Time Zone.

One member of a Massachusetts state commission that’s currently looking at whether or not the state should move to the Atlantic Time Zone — and thus, opt out of Daylight Savings Time — said he started his quest when he moved from Washington, D.C., to Massachusetts.

“I knew I was moving north, but I had no idea how far I was moving east, and so you can imagine my horror when in December the sun was setting” at 4:11 p.m., he told PDFNBC News.

If Massachusetts does move time zones, it would be an hour ahead of the rest of the East Coast for roughly four months each year.

In September, the state commission released a draft report [PDF] that found Massachusetts “could make a data-driven case for moving to the Atlantic Time Zone year-round.”

The commission’s report notes that year-round DST would positively impact consumer spending, which could help the state attract and retain more talented workers; would increase residents’ productivity and cut down on both the number and severity of on-the-job injuries; and improve public health in general.

A second draft will be voted on Nov. 1, and if approved could go on to lawmakers.

Massachusetts isn’t the only state to consider such a move, the commission notes: Four of the other five New England states have also looked into year-round DST. In Maine, a bill that would’ve prompted such a change in the state if Massachusetts and New Hampshire also participated was passed by both legislative chambers before it was laid aside.

Another bill in New Hampshire passed the House but was voted down in the Senate, while bills establishing year-round DST were also filed in the Connecticut and Rhode Island legislatures. Elsewhere in the country, legislators have introduced bills in Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Amazon Selling Discounted LG Phones, But You Have To See Ads All Day

Is a $50 discount on a new LG phone enough to offset having to look at ads everytime the device locks? That’s the question some Amazon customer are debating, as the company is offering to knock $50 off LG smartphones that show ads on the phone’s lock screen. 

Amazon announced the deal today, noting that it would be offered to members of its $99/year (or $10/month) Prime subscription service who purchase certain LG phones.

Discounts on the LG G6 and LG G6+ devices, as well as the LG Q6 and LG X charge phones vary.

For instance, Amazon currently advertises the LG G6 as costing $449.99. However, through the Prime Exclusive program, the phone shows an original price of $638 with a $238.01 discount, bringing the price of the phone to $399.99. The difference between the discounted phone and the non-discounted device is $50.

A current listing for the LG Q6 shows the price as $299.99. Through the Prime Exclusive program, customers receive a $70 discount, bringing the cost of the phone to $229.99.

Amazon has long sold discounted, ad-subsidized versions of its own Kindle and Kindle Fire e-readers and tablets. The company began using ads to subsidize the cost of third-party devices last year when it began offering the same discount on Android phones.

Though Amazon is offering this deal now, it will still be a few weeks until buyers get their new phones, as they aren’t being released until Nov. 9.

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

American Airlines To Meet With NAACP To Discuss Claims Of Racial Bias

After the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning non-white travelers that their safety and well-being may be at risk when flying American Airlines, the social justice advocacy group and the airline will be meeting to discuss numerous claims of racial mistreatment.

“Exercise Caution”

In its advisory this week, the NAACP said that after monitoring for several months “a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers, specific to American Airline,” the group was alerting travelers — “especially African Americans” — to “exercise caution, in that booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions.”

The group went on to list some recently reported incidents, including a black man who was required to give up his purchased seats on a flight “merely because he responded to disrespectful and discriminatory comments directed toward him by two unruly white passengers” and a black woman and her infant child who were removed from an AA flight “asked that her stroller be retrieved from checked baggage before she would disembark.”

Other travelers have been documenting their experiences flying AA online, using the hashtags “#Happened2MeOnAA” and “#FlyingWhileBlack.”

The day after the NAACP issued its travel advisory, American CEO Doug Parker sent a letter [PDF] to employees saying that the airline has reached out to the NAACP, and “we are eager to meet with them to listen to their issues and concerns.”

“The mission statement of the NAACP states that it ‘seeks to remove all barriers of racial discrimination.’ That’s a mission that the people of American Airlines endorse and facilitate every day – we do not and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”

The NAACP tells the Dallas News that “wheels are in motion” to set up a formal discussion with AA soon. We’ve also reached out to the group for more information and will update this post if we receive a response.

Complaints Add Up

Bloomberg ran the numbers from the Department of Transportation’s Consumer Travel Reports, and found that American Airlines passengers have filed 29 complaints of racial discrimination from 2016 through Aug. 2017, the most of any U.S. airline in those 20 months. United Airlines was next with 17 complaints, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines both had nine complaints.

Earlier this month, a group of 30 civil rights organizations sent a letter to Southwest accusing the airline of racial profiling, reports the Dallas News, in response to a recent incident where a pregnant Pakistani woman was pulled from her seat after she told crew members she had a dog allergy.

While the airline claims the woman said she had a life-threatening allergy, and needed an EpiPen due to the presence of a dog on the flight, she denied ever saying either of those things.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

What Will Happen When White House Declares Opioid Crisis Is Public Health Emergency?

It’s pretty clear to anyone who has been paying attention that the opioid abuse epidemic in America has reached emergency status. But it’s one thing for people to casually use that term and another for the White House to actually declare a “Public Health Emergency.” Here’s why.

There’s more than one kind of “Emergency,” when it comes to federal guidelines, and what kind of “Emergency” the White House calls some urgent catastrophe has significant implications for the kind of funding and federal attention it receives.

The White House will later today be declaring the opioid crisis a Public Health Emergency, Politico and others report.

The President doesn’t actually get to do the declaring; technically, Trump will be directing the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Acting Secretary Eric Hargan since Tom Price’s resignation, to declare the Emergency.

The Public Health Emergency declaration still increases resources directed toward combatting the opioid overdose and addiction crisis, but does so differently than a National Emergency would.

What Is A Public Health Emergency?

A Public Health Emergency, at its most basic, allows government agencies to design and implement plans for reallocating resources and starting programs designed to mitigate the crisis.

As Stat explains, this particular emergency declaration has a few main components to it.

1. Telemedicine
Telemedicine — the ability to video conference your medical providers, basically — is often touted as one of the great solutions the 21st century can offer for healthcare.

The administration is expected to announce a regulatory change that would permit providers using teleconferencing to serve patience the ability to prescribe medications that are used to assist with substance abuse or mental health treatment.

The increased permissions granted to telemedicine providers would largely help residents of rural areas, who have a harder time accessing in-person care — but no word on if improving rural Americans’ access to broadband that supports telemedicine is also on deck.

2. More specialists
Helping individuals and communities combat addiction is highly specialized work. The problem is, the specialists aren’t necessarily in the same places the people are. So the declaration will allow HHS and states’ governors to appoint specialists “with the tools and talent needed to respond effectively” temporarily to positions in order to provide help where needed.

3. Jobs
The Department of Labor will be instructed to make dislocated worker grants available to folks who work in areas where the labor market has been decimated by the opioid crisis.

Basically, these grants provide money for states and localities to retrain workers and provide temporary jobs in areas where some federally-recognized disaster has created an artificially high unemployment situation.

There’s a big “but” on this, though: Labor is instructed to provide the grants “subject to available funding.” No funding? No grants.

4. Shifting priorities
The Administration also proposes to shift some resources from dedicated HIV/AIDS support programs to programs that support both HIV/AIDS and substance abuse issues, in order to address the needs of the population dealing with both.

What’s Missing?

The biggest thing not on the table right now is money.

A declaration of emergency usually makes some kind of funding available — from FEMA, at least.

But as Stat says, this entire declaration relies on an already-existing public health emergency fund that HHS says is currently worth about $57,000.

When it comes to a nationwide disaster, that’s basically nothing.

The administration said that they expect funding to show up in the eventual budget spending bill that Congress must pass by December in order to keep the government running.

But assembling that budget is going to be a fraught and complicated process, with a ridiculous number of moving parts, and it’s anyone’s guess what will actually have made it in by the end.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist