Business Briefs – December 4, 2017

$69B Aetna Bid Pushes CVS Deeper Into Consumers’ Lives

NEW YORK (AP) – CVS Health says its $69-billion acquisition of the insurer Aetna will help create a customer “front door” to health care through the chain’s network of nearly 10,000 stores. The companies plan to expand the health services offered through CVS locations and get more involved in managing care. The deal announced Sunday must pass anti-trust scrutiny.

Those Tax Breaks in the GOP Plan? Enjoy Them While They Last

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has touted his tax overhaul as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Yet the plan Senate Republicans have embraced could force lawmakers to rewrite the tax code repeatedly for years to come. The main reason is that some of its key planks are set to expire in several years, thereby forcing a future Congress to decide whether to renew them. The tax cuts for individuals and families? They’d vanish after eight years.

GOP Senator Says Comments On Estate Tax Misinterpreted

WASHINGTON (AP) – A top Republican senator says his comments were misinterpreted when he defended GOP efforts to scale back the federal estate taxes because it helps those who invest rather than people who spend their money on entertainment. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says his point regarding the estate tax was taken out of context and the government shouldn’t “seize the fruits of someone’s lifetime of labor after they die.”

High Court Hints It Could Side With State on Sports Betting

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court is indicating a willingness to side with New Jersey’s effort to permit sports gambling in a case being closely watched by states interested in allowing betting on sports. The justices heard arguments Monday in a case where New Jersey is challenging a federal law that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states. One report says that if the justices strike down the law, 32 states would likely offer sports betting within five years.

Barkin Tapped as Next President Of Richmond Fed Bank

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Reserve’s Richmond regional bank is announcing that Thomas Barkin, a senior executive at global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., will be the bank’s next president. He will succeed Jeffrey Lacker, who resigned as the bank’s president in April after revealing his involvement in a leak of confidential information in 2012 that had triggered congressional and criminal investigations.

McDonald’s Revives Dollar Menu Name With $1, $2 And $3 Items

NEW YORK (AP) – The Dollar Menu is making a McComeback. McDonald’s says it is reviving the name of the once-popular value menu next month, but this time the items will cost $1, $2 or $3. The world’s biggest hamburger chain has become more reliant on deals to win customers back from other low-priced chains. In October, it attributed a rise in a key sales figure to its $1 sodas and a two-for-$5 promotion called McPick 2.