U.S. News

The Reason Your Insulin Costs So Much

Collusion, at least alleged collusion.

The Federal Trade Commission said on Friday that it has taken legal action against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, accusing the drug middlemen of inflation insulin prices and steering patients toward higher-cost insulin products to increase their profits (*gasp* pretends to be shocked…).

The legal action targets CVS Health’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx, and subsidiaries they’ve created to handle drug negotiations. These three collectively control 80%(!) of prescriptions in this country.

Hired by employers and government health insurance programs, such as Medicare, these pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are responsible for negotiating prices with drug makers, paying pharmacies and helping to decide which drugs are available and at what cost. But agency officials are accusing them of distorting competition and harming consumers. 

According to the FTC, the practices of pharmacy benefit managers helped boost the price of insulin 12,000% between 1999 and 2017 (and we thought inflation is bad…). There are more than 38 million diabetics in this country who need that insulin.

However, Greg Lopes, the vice president of public affairs at Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a trade group for PBMs, believes the lawsuit isn’t painting the full picture. He cited data that shows the average out-of-pocket cost for a month’s supply of insulin declined 10 $18.64 in 2023, compared to $25.79 in 2019. 

The full complaint is not expected to be made public until later today. 

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Business

GM Is Recalling 450K SUVs & Trucks

It’s concerns brakes, so if you have one you may want to read this.

General Motors is recalling more than 449,000 SUVs and pickup trucks due to potential failure of the electronic brake control module software, which would not display a warning light if/when a loss of brake fluid transpires. 

The recall includes certain 2023-2024 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESVs, 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500, 2023-2024 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban 1500, 2023 GMC Sierra 1500, 2023-2024 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL models.

A free software update will be provided for this recall. Without the fix, the warning light might not come on and, therefore, the car could be driven with low brake fluid (without the driver's knowledge), which could reduce braking performance and increase the risk of a crash. 

Notification letters are expected to be mailed out on October 29th. Vehicle owners can contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006.

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Politics

It’s Up to the Undecided

But where are they leaning?

Election day is six weeks from tomorrow! We know which side the staunch democrats and republicans will be on… but what about those who are undecided? Which way are they leaning, as we come down the home stretch?

Well, NBC News interviewed 21 “undecided voters” from the national poll they conducted in July to find out. Only 8% of voters in that poll said they were undecided. A minute percentage in the grand scheme of things, but a large enough group to potentially sway things in what is expected to be a very close race (in fact, the closest of the century).

You can watch the video or read the full breakdown here, but in summary: of the 21 people interviewed, nine said they were still undecided but were leaning towards Kamala Harris, because of concerns surrounding Donald Trump. Four said they are definitely voting for Harris, while one said they’re voting for Trump and four claimed they are planning to vote at all. 

This is a very small sample size… but is it a microcosm of how most of the undecided voters are leaning as we head towards Election Day?

Of these 21 interviewees, they all seemed to have concerns over both candidates, and were skeptical of politics and politicians, but seem resigned to the fact that maybe Harris would be the lesser of two evils (in their opinion)?

For example, one said they’re “not in love with either one of the candidates,” while another said “from what I've seen so far, I’m not voting for Trump, for sure,” while acknowledging they needed more information on Harris. 

Meanwhile, Harris shared that she has accepted CNN’s debate invitation for October 23rd. But to this point, Trump has been ducking the opportunity, stating it’d be “too late,” as Americans would have begun casting their ballots already. Trump’s campaign was pushing for a date in September, if they were to do a second debate. 

Theoretically, a Presidential Debate could be another opportunity to sway some of those undecided voters. But data has shown that the debates actually don’t have a very large impact.

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Finance

Nike Got a Nice Pop

After a tough year so far, a new CEO boosts confidence.

Nike’s stock got a nice bounce after the news of a returnee. The company named Elliott Hill, a former Nike executive, their new CEO, leading to a 7% increase during early trading Friday morning.

Hill originally retired in 2020, but is now slated to return to the company next month, following the retirement of current CEO (for a few more weeks) John Donahue. Donahue will retire on October 13th, but remain with the company until January 2025 as an adviser. 

Which makes it seem like it might not have been Donahue’s decision. Nike’s stock has fallen more than 25% this year, as the company has dealt with slowing revenue growth and concerns about the company’s pivot to direct-to-consumer sales. For example, quarterly revenue is down 2% from the year prior. 

The stock fell 20% in June alone, as Nike had said at the time that they expect revenue to decline more in the next year than they had previously thought. Which is where Hill apparently comes in…

Prior to his retirement, Hill was president of Nike’s consumer and marketplace business. He led commercial and marketing operations for Nike and the Jordan brand. 

"Given our needs for the future, the past performance of the business, and after conducting a thoughtful succession process, the Board concluded it was clear Elliott’s global expertise, leadership style, and deep understanding of our industry and partners, paired with his passion for sport, our brands, products, consumers, athletes, and employees, make him the right person to lead Nike’s next stage of growth,” Nike executive chairman Mark Parker said in a press release announcing the news.

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Tech

Microsoft is Going Nuclear

In a good way though.

How about this: Three Mile Island, the power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, that was the scene of the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history… yeah, that one… well, it’s going to reopen to power Microsoft’s data centers. These centers are responsible for powering their cloud computing and artificial intelligence programs. 

Constellation Energy, the nation’s self-billed largest producer of “clean, carbon-free energy,” announced Friday that it had signed its largest-ever power purchase agreement with Microsoft. The deal will create 3,400 jobs and bring in more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes. Constellation Energy also said that this deal will add $16 billion to Penssylvania’s GDP. 

The deal will span 20 years, with the plant expected to reopen in 2028. 

The partial nuclear reactor meltdown at this power plant occurred on March 28, 1979, when one of the plant’s two reactors’ cooling mechanisms malfunctioned. Clean up took 14 years and cost $1 billion (which would be equivalent to $2 billion today). It also caused $2.4 billion worth of property damage. 

Following this accident, schools were closed and residents were urged to stay indoors, farmers were told to keep their animals under cover, and pregnant women and pre-school aged children were asked to evacuate. In fact, 140,000 people left the area, with almost all returning within three weeks. Research later on found a much higher rate of cancer deaths between 1979-1985 for people who lived within 10 miles of the plant. There was also a $25 million class action lawsuit that was settled out of court in 1981.

But the good news? The reactor that will be reopened to power Microsoft’s data centers was not involved in that accident.

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Sports | Entertainment

Netflix Wants The NFL

Can you blame them???

Netflix was the latest streaming service to get in on the NFL, when they reached an agreement to broadcast this year’s Christmas Day games for the first time. But for Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters, that might not be enough.

Peters spoke at a Financial Times conference on Friday, touching on a variety of issues, such as AI and advertising. But also live sports. In regards to the NFL, Peters said that the company is approaching it as a singular event, as opposed to something with a regular cadence: “for one day, football will be on Netflix,” Peters said. 

But he also did not dismiss the notion of Netflix expanding its sports portfolio. “We’d love to do those things, it would be amazing. We also want to do it in a way that works for the business and those have been typically challenging deals to go do and make it work for the business.” Peters said he learned to “never say never, keep your mind open to how to do it and think creatively about it. And certainly we’re poking at the edges of that.”

Netflix reached a deal with the NFL to carry the XMas day games for the next three years at a reported price of $75 million per game! In regards to those games, Peters hinted that Netflix will broadcast them a little differently - “We plan to Netflix-ify them a little bit,” Peters said. “So we’ll plan to have a little bit of stuff around the games with our talent, stuff like that, that’ll hopefully make it super fun.”

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