TV News LIES

A  health insurer in Utah is seeking to reduce prescription drug costs by flying state employees to Mexico, where they can collect medications at a fraction of the US cost.

The year-old programme involves around 10 state employees. The cost savings are so large that the insurance program can pay for each patient’s flight, give them a $500-per-trip bonus and still save tens of thousands of dollars.

One participant, 62-year-old teacher Ann Lovell, said she saved as much as $2,400 by travelling from Salt Lake City to San Diego and then crossing the border, in order to refill a prescription for arthritis medication.

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As student debt continues to climb, President Donald Trump on Monday released a budget for 2021 that would slash many of the programs aimed at helping borrowers.

Student loan spending would be cut by $170 billion in Trump’s plan, titled “A Budget for America’s Future.” The reductions include “sensible annual and lifetime loan limits” for graduate students and parents and the end to subsidized loans, in which the government covers the interest for borrowers who are still in school or experiencing economic hardship.

It would also reduce the number of repayment options for borrowers and nix the popular, if challenged, public service loan forgiveness program.

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British scientist Dr. Robin Shattock told CNBC on Tuesday the public shouldn’t expect a coronavirus vaccine to hit the market until early next year, despite recent advances.

“The closest we’ll get to making this available will be early next year, or later,” Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, said on “Squawk Box.”

“It still requires a lot of testing to see if these vaccines are safe and then see if they work,” he added.

 

The controversial International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC), which gives the Trump administration advice on international big game hunting, has disbanded, according to a government court filing.

The Friday filing on behalf of the Interior Department said that the IWCC "ceased to exist" in December when its two-year charter expired.

"The Council will not meet or conduct any business again, it can no longer be renewed, and there [is] no plan to establish another committee with a similar mission or scope in the future," the document said.

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A federal judge Friday sentenced Douglas Hodge, a former CEO of a major investment management firm, to nine months in prison for paying $850,000 over more than a decade to get four of his children admitted to elite private universities as fake athletic recruits.

It marks the longest prison sentence so far in the nation's college admissions scandal, topping a 6-month sentence handed down to a parent in November.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday it will recall 3.4 million vehicles worldwide because of an electronic glitch that can result in air bags not deploying in crashes.

The recall, which includes 2.9 million U.S. vehicles, covers 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles.

The vehicles may have an electronic control unit that does not have adequate protection against electrical noise that can occur in crashes, which could lead to incomplete or non-deployment of the airbags.

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Scientists have discovered the oldest solid material ever found on Earth from a meteorite that fell in Australia about 50 years ago.

The material that the researchers examined are called presolar grains – or stardust – particles from a star that can eventually form new stars, along with planets, moons and meteorites.