BUSINESS BRIEFS
Two chosen for Medicare plan
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Kaiser Permanente and Wellcare Health Plans are among the companies selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to offer the new Medicare prescription drug program in Hawai'i.
Rather than a single Medicare drug plan, seniors will be allowed to choose from an array of programs offered by the selected insurance companies. Insurers will begin marketing their offerings Oct. 1, with enrollments to begin Nov. 15. Coverage will kick in Jan. 1.
IRS LOSES 30,000 TAX PAYMENTS
The Internal Revenue Service said it lost 30,000 estimated tax payments from residents of Hawai'i and 12 other Western states when the truck that was hauling the checks got in an accident, and the payments were blown into San Francisco Bay.
The IRS said it was working to help taxpayers whose payments were lost. The IRS said it was encouraging taxpayers who believe a payment may have been lost to wait until Sept. 30 before contacting the agency. After Sept. 30, taxpayers whose checks have not cleared their bank should contact the IRS at (800) 829-1040.
OIL PRICES RAISE ECONOMIC FEARS
Finance officials from the world's biggest industrial powers said yesterday in Washington that soaring energy prices pose a risk to the global economy, and they pledged to do all they can to limit the fallout.
The energy situation was a key agenda item in discussions among finance ministers and central-bank presidents from the Group of Seven countries. The United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada make up the group.
CRUDE PRICES FALL AS RITA WEAKENS
Crude oil prices dropped sharply yesterday, the second straight day of declines, as traders welcomed news that Hurricane Rita had weakened, suggesting that damage to refinery capacity in the Gulf could be less severe than originally feared.
Refineries in the projected path of the hurricane were shuttered by yesterday. Nineteen of Texas' 26 refineries, with a combined daily capacity of nearly 5 million barrels, have been shut, the Energy Information Agency said.
However, unlike refining facilities shut down by Katrina, traders expected less damage from Rita because Texas refineries are on higher ground than those in Louisiana.
