Investor Warren Buffett says good deals tough to find

Investor Warren Buffett says the acquisition frenzy on Wall Street is making it hard for him to find deals at the right price, but his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate recorded a $29 billion gain because of the tax... Investor Warren Buffett says the acquisition frenzy on Wall Street is making it hard for him to find deals at the right price, but his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate recorded a $29 billion gain because of the tax reforms Congress passed. . FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2010 file photo, evangelist Billy Graham, 92, speaks during an interview at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. Graham, who died Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, at h... The Rev.

Sailors celebrate Thanksgiving with chicken wings, turkey, chocolate in Algonquin

ALGONQUIN - During every day of his six-week boot camp assignment at Naval Station Great Lakes, Shane Skinner thought about three things: graduation, his girlfriend and chicken wings. The 24-year-old Navy recruit from Bolivar, New York, had that and more Thursday when he joined three dozen of his future shipmates at Algonquin's St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, where volunteers and the Knights of Columbus organized a free Thanksgiving feast for sailors from Naval Station Great Lakes.

St. Margaret Mary Church in Algonquin hosts sailors for Thanksgiving feast

St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church member Ingrid Prigge of Algonquin hands out extra napkins to feasting Navy recruits at a Thanksgiving meal Thursday hosted by the Knights of Columbus at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Algonquin. Naval Station Great Lakes seaman recruits Taylee Smullin of Boise, Idaho, and Briana Tucker of Little Rock, Ark., lead recruits through a line of Thanksgiving staples Thursday at a meal hosted by the Knights of Columbus at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Algonquin.

Lloyd’s syndicate wins dispute over settlement

A settlement agreement that called for a Lloyd's of London syndicate to pay for a $5.1 million settlement in a dispute involving claims management firm and an insurance agency, in which the syndicate was not involved, was "collusive and distorts the adversarial process," a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. Lloyd's syndicate Novae Corporate Underwriting Ltd. had issued an insurance policy to Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., parent company of Birmingham, Alabama-based Cunningham Lindsey Claims Management Inc., that had a $1 million retention and covered both Fairfax and Cunningham, according to Friday's ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in Diane M. Hendricks and Hendricks Holding Company Inc. v.

Centene to sell Obamacare plans in Nevada next year – report

Centene Corp, one of the largest players in the Obamacare individual insurance market, will offer Obamacare plans in 14 rural counties of Nevada in 2018, the Nevada Independent reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nevada was left without insurance coverage after U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc said last week it would pare back its Obamacare offerings in the state exchange next year.

Warren Blocks Trump’s Pick for Antitrust Chief

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren put a "hold" on the confirmation of Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the Justice Department's antitrust division, delaying a vote until at least September, according to two people familiar with the matter.  The delay means Delrahim remains on the outside as Justice Department lawyers wrap up their investigation of AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s proposed $85.4 billion merger and start early talks with company representatives about possible conditions that could secure approval. AT&T's bid for the owner of CNN and HBO would reshape the media landscape and has drawn fire from Trump.

Health Insurers to Fill Gaps in Ohio’s Individual Coverage Market

Five health insurance companies in Ohio, including Molina Healthcare Inc., have stepped up to sell health plans in 19 counties that would have been without Obamacare individual coverage in 2018, the state's insurance regulator said. Ohio's Department of Insurance said it had worked to draw in insurers for the 20 counties that were left without an option after others, including Anthem Inc., said it would exit in 2018.

Maine residents pushing back against premium hikes

Maine residents are lambasting health care insurers for proposing double-digit premium hikes they say would hurt the state's middle and lower classes. Harvard Pilgrim and Anthem Inc. have both said they may leave the Affordable Care Act marketplace in the nation's oldest state next year, citing rising health care costs driven by pharmaceutical drug prices and uncertainty over the health care law's future.

Anthem will pay $115 million to settle the biggest ever data breach in healthcare

Health insurer Anthem Inc. agreed to pay $115 million to resolve consumer claims over a 2015 cyber attack that compromised data on 78.8 million people, marking what attorneys in the case called the largest data-breach settlement in history. The proposed accord, which would end class-action lawsuits filed in several states, requires approval from a federal judge in San Jose, Calif .

Trump says Obamacare in a death spiral,a urges Congress to act

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the Obamacare healthcare system is in a "death spiral" and must be reformed soon, a day after insurer Anthem Inc announced it would withdraw from the Ohio healthcare insurance exchange next year. Trump has struggled to get a healthcare package passed by the U.S. Congress even though his Republican Party controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Aetna to Quit Virginia’s Obamacare Market

Aetna Inc. is quitting Virginia's Obamacare market for 2018, the second state that Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini is exiting as he seeks to limit his insurer's risks from the beleaguered health law. "We will not offer on- or off-exchange individual plans in Virginia," Aetna said in an emailed statement, citing $200 million or more in losses the company anticipates this year on individual products.

U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Ruling That Blocks Proposed Anthem-Cigna Deal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a split decision issued Friday, upheld a lower court's ruling that had blocked a proposed $54 billion merger of Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp., two of the largest health insurers in the U.S. The U.S. District Court ruled in February that the proposed deal combining the two insurers should not be allowed because it would lead to higher prices for consumers, as VMail reported .

Insurers await tax reform

What we know is that the Trump plan, released late last month, would reduce the number of tax brackets for individuals from seven to three: 10%, 25% and 35%, lowering the top rate by nearly 5 percentage points. The plan would also cut the top federal capital gains rate from 23.8% to 20% by eliminating a 3.8% tax used to fund the Affordable Care Act.

HSBC Said Close to Naming AIA’s Mark Tucker as Chairman

HSBC Holdings Plc has made insurance executive Mark Tucker the preferred candidate to be chairman, replacing Douglas Flint, according to two people familiar with the decision, as Europe's largest bank takes the first step to overhaul its top management team. Prudential Plc , is in discussions with the bank, according to the people who asked not to be identified because the succession process is private. Flint, 61, is expected to step down after six years as executive chairman and 21 years at the bank.

BRIEF-Markel estimates Ogden rate change impact

HEALTHCARE The top U.S. doctors' organization and several hospital groups come out strongly against a Republican plan backed by Trump t WASHINGTON, March 8 Republicans in the U.S. Congress are moving to repeal regulations adopted by the Obama administration in October that would have subjected internet service providers to stricter scrutiny than websites to protect customers' private data.

The Latest: Buffett says $143B Unilever talks soured quickly

Warren Buffett says the proposed $143 billion offer to acquire Unilever, a deal with links to his company, fell apart quickly because the European company wasn't interested. Buffett said Monday on CNBC that his Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital abandoned Kraft Heinz Foods' bid for Unilever because they were interested only in a mutually agreed upon tie-up, not a hostile takeover.

2 big insurance break-ups on Valentine’s Day

It was a rough day for the already-roiled U.S. health insurance market: One giant merger was abandoned, another is threatened by infighting, and a major insurer announced it will stop selling coverage on public exchanges in 11 states. Both merger deals had already been rejected by federal regulators and judges, but the companies were considering appeals to those decisions.