Business Highlights: Insulin prices; COVID relief fraud

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Lilly plans to slash some insulin prices, expand cost cap

Eli Lilly will cut prices for some older insulins later this year and immediately give more patients access to a cap on the costs they pay to fill prescriptions. The moves promise critical relief to some people with diabetes who can face annual costs of more than $1,000 for insulin. Lilly’s changes also come as lawmakers pressure drugmakers to do something about soaring prices. Lilly said it will cut the list price for its most commonly prescribed insulin, Humalog, and for another insulin, Humulin, by 70% or more in the fourth quarter.

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Man gets 6 years for $4.2M COVID relief fraud scheme

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida man has been sentenced to six years and two months in federal prison for trying to obtain more than $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds by filing false loan applications. Court records show that 28-year-old Valesky Barosy was sentenced Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court. He was convicted by a jury in December of wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say Barosy submitted fraudulent loan applications on behalf of himself and his accomplices, seeking more than $4.2 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. Investigators say they received about $2.1 million in loans. Officials say Barosy used the money to purchase a Lamborghini, expensive watches and designer clothing.

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Supreme Court student loan hearing: What you need to know

NEW YORK (AP) — The fate of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan is up in the air after Supreme Court justices questioned whether his administration has the authority to broadly cancel federal student loans. At stake is forgiveness of up to $20,000 in debt for more than 40 million Americans. Nearly half could have their federal student debt wiped out entirely. But in hearing two cases challenging the plan, the Republican-appointed majority seemed increasingly likely to block it. Already, about 26 million people have applied for debt forgiveness, and 16 million applications have been approved. However, because of court rulings, all the relief is on hold.

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Here are the countries that have bans on TikTok

HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. and Canada have banned the use of TikTok on government-issued mobile devices as privacy and cybersecurity concerns grow in the West. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance. The video-sharing app has long maintained that it does not share data with the Chinese government and that its data is not held in China. It also disputes accusations that it collects more user data compared to other social media companies, and insists that it runs independently, with its own leadership team. Despite TikTok’s claims, many countries around the world remain cautious about the platform and its ties to China.

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Olive oil in coffee? New Starbucks line a curiosity in Italy

MILAN (AP) — Putting olive oil in coffee is hardly a tradition in Italy, but that didn’t stop Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz from launching a series of beverages doing just that in Milan. Starbucks says Schultz came up with the notion of adding olive oil to coffee after visiting an olive oil producer in Sicily last summer. He worked with an in-house coffee drink developer to come up with recipes. The “Oleato” five-drink assortment launched last week at the company’s Milan Roastery. The beverages have provoked both amusement and curiosity among Italians. Some of the tourists who throng Milan Roastery say they appreciated the taste.

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Twitter’s new ‘violent speech’ policy similar to past rules

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter has unveiled a new policy prohibiting violent speech. But overall it appears very similar to the rules against violent threats it had on the books before Elon Musk took over the social media platform. One key update is that Twitter has expanded its policy to include banning so-called coded language, which is often referred to as “dog whistles,” used to indirectly incite violence. It also added a rule that prohibits threatening to damage people’s homes, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic or business activities.

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Metaverse in spotlight at MWC tech fair even as doubts arise

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Companies are spotlighting the metaverse at the MWC tech fair even as doubts of its viability have been creeping in following the initial hype. People could fly over futuristic cityscape in South Korea, fight a fire or go inside a human blood vessel in metaverse demonstrations at the world’s biggest telecom industry trade show, also known as Mobile World Congress. As businesses tout their virtual reality experiences for work and play at the expo this week in Barcelona, analysts say there’s skepticism about what role the metaverse will play beyond gaming. The metaverse exploded in popularity after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 pronounced it as the next big thing for the internet.

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Biden’s pick to lead FAA faces stormy confirmation hearing

President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Federal Aviation Administration is finally getting a chance to make the case for his stalled nomination. Phillip Washington testified Wednesday before a Senate committee that will eventually vote on his nomination. Senators are divided along party lines, with Republicans saying he doesn’t have enough aviation experience to run the FAA. Democrats are defending the choice, noting that Washington has run Denver’s main airport since mid-2021. Charles Schumer, leader of the Senate Democrats, vows to break a logjam that’s holding up the nomination, and clear the way for Washington’s confirmation.

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The S&P 500 fell 18.76 points, or 0.5%, to 3,951.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.14 points, or less than 0.1%, to 32,661.84. The Nasdaq composite fell 76.06 points, or 0.7%, to 11,379.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.44 points, or 0.1%, to 1,898.43.