Mass., pharmacy chain settle Medicaid case
CVS Corp. has agreed to pay $895,000 in a Medicaid-fraud settlement with Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's office for billing the Massachusetts Medicaid system for prescriptions that were never picked up or delivered to patients. Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS had agreed to cease such billings in 1998, but the improper billings continued because of computer problems, the company said. In 2002, it alerted MassHealth, the state's Medicaid system, to the ongoing improper billings and sent a check for more than $700,000 to the state, said CVS spokeswoman Eileen Howard Dunn. ''The check was never cashed," she said. Instead, Reilly's office launched its investigation. ''It was a case about corporate responsibility. They have to make sure they are not taking money from Medicaid . . . that they are not entitled to," said Nicholas Messuri, director of Reilly's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. (Christopher Rowland)
Red Sox official starts Sports Loyalty Systems
Leslie Otten, vice chairman of the Red Sox, said he is starting a company in Boston that will focus on sports-loyalty programs and give fans a chance to earn points for game tickets and other perks. The idea for the company, called Sports Loyalty Systems, is similar to the points programs at credit card companies. Fans register their existing credit card on the team's website. If they spend money at affiliated retailers, they receive points -- generally, one point per dollar. Points can be redeemed for game tickets, prizes, and experiences, such as throwing out the first pitch. Otten said the Dodgers have signed, and he is negotiating with four teams. The Red Sox have not joined, but Otten said he expects the team to sign. (Sasha Talcott)
Millennium sees job cuts after adjusting agreement
Millennium Pharmaceuticals said it expects to cut about 200 jobs as a result of the restructuring of the company's collaboration agreement with Schering-Plough. Millennium said the job cuts will affect its sales force, medical science liaisons, and other positions, and that Schering-Plough ''is inviting the majority of affected staff to apply for positions." The filing didn't say what percentage of Cambridge-based Millennium's total staff the 200 job cuts represent. In its latest annual report, the company said it had 1,477 full-time employees as of Feb. 28. (Dow Jones/AP)
THE NATION
American Funds leads June with $7.2b in sales
American Funds had $7.2 billion in net sales of stock and bond mutual funds in June, accounting for 43 percent of the industry's total, according to Boston-based Financial Research Corp. In all, investors bought a net $17 billion in long-term funds, 3.4 percent less than during June 2004. Barclays Global Investors was second in sales, with $4.6 billion. Franklin Resources sold $2.2 billion in shares, and Vanguard Group $2.1 billion. In June, State Street Corp. had the highest outflows, at $3.1 billion. Putnam Investments had $1.7 billion in withdrawals, and Janus Capital Group had redemptions of $861 million. It was the 49th consecutive month of withdrawals for Putnam and Janus. (Bloomberg)
IRS to audit S-corporations to determine compliance
The IRS said it would randomly audit 5,000 businesses, most of them small companies, to determine how well they are complying with tax laws. The initiative, which covers the 2003 and 2004 tax years, is aimed at so-called S-corporations, whose owners pay tax on profit on an individual basis. The number of S-corporations has grown since the mid-1980s and they are now the most common type of corporate entity, accounting for 59 percent of corporate tax returns filed in 2002. The IRS hasn't studied S-corporation tax returns since it examined 10,000 filings for tax year 1984, two years before a law spurred the growth of the companies. (Bloomberg)
House seeks FTC probe into Grand Theft Auto
An uproar over hidden, sexually explicit scenes in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas spread to the halls of Congress. On a 355-21 vote, the House passed a resolution asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the game's manufacturer, Rockstar Games, and its parent company, New York-based Take Two Interactive Software. (AP)
Estate tax repeal vote
could kill compromise bill
The Senate's top tax writer said a vote on permanently repealing the estate tax could doom senators' efforts to strike an agreement limiting the tax to the wealthiest estates. Senator Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who leads the Senate Finance Committee, said he was ''a little anxious" to learn that the Senate's GOP leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, intended to push forward this week with a bill to permanently repeal the estate tax. Under current law, the tax decreases each year until 2010, when it disappears for one year, but without action by Congress, it will return in 2011 at rates in place before President Bush's tax cuts. (AP) 