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Admin costs among drivers of high US healthcare spending; Centene invests in PBM

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Admin costs among drivers of high US healthcare spending; Centene invests in PBM

A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that prices of labor, pharmaceuticals and devices, and administrative costs of care — activities relating to planning, regulating, and managing health systems and services — are among factors driving healthcare spending growth in the U.S. The U.S. spent more per capita on healthcare than any other nation, but performed poorly in healthcare coverage and health outcomes, the study noted. The New York Times said the study "punctures" many of the common explanations on why America's healthcare costs are so high.

Hannover Re has intensified efforts to fix the large block of U.S. life business that caused its life insurance division to miss operating profit expectations for 2017, CEO Ulrich Wallin said March 13. The company had said the action on the life book would continue into 2019, but Wallin told analysts: "We have brought forward the timeline on the in-force management action. We will be acting more swiftly and earlier than originally expected."

Centene Corp. made an initial, strategic investment in RxAdvance Corp., a full-service pharmacy benefit manager. As part of the initial transaction, Centene has certain rights to expand its equity investment in the future.

The Hawaii legislature is mulling proposals to protect parts of the Affordable Care Act, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported. Senate Bill 2924 establishes an individual mandate that requires people to maintain health insurance or pay a penalty and Senate Bill 2340, among other things, prohibits insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.

Turning to M&A, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has granted an early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act for Kemper Corp.'s $1.32 billion bid to acquire Infinity Property & Casualty Corp.

Acrisure LLC closed the acquisition of 100% of Beach & Associates following the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

Featured news

House blocks US right-to-try bill; Americans spend more on healthcare: The U.S. right-to-try bill, which would allow expanded use of experimental drugs, failed to gain enough support; and the U.S. spent 17.8% of its gross domestic product on healthcare in 2016, nearly twice the rate of 10 other high-income nations.

Financial news in other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: ICBC NY branch faces regulatory action; Chinese wealth fund exits Blackstone

Europe: Pru to demerge UK, European ops; EU banks face new bad loan provision rules

Middle East & Africa: Bahrain exits EU tax haven blacklist; Angola issuing bonds to tackle bad debts

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.53% to 31,435.01 and the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.87% to 21,777.29.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.26% to 7,157.38 and the Euronext 100 rose 0.24% to 1,026.40.

On the macro front

The Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations and EIA Petroleum Status Report are due out today.