Rising profits: Business First Bancshares Inc., the Baton Rouge-based parent company of Business First Bank, announced today a 24% net earnings increase in the first quarter of 2016 over the first quarter of 2015. The company reports $1.4 million in net earnings, compared to $1.13 million in 2015’s first quarter, according to a news release. “I thank our shareholders for their trust and confidence over the past 10 years as we developed a foundation upon which to build a meaningful institution,” Jude Melville, president and CEO of Business First Bank, says in a statement. Read the full announcement.
Not so fast: Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy is challenging Gov. John Bel Edwards’ position that the state needs to call a second special session to close a $750 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. When considering the estimated $1.3 billion in taxes raised in a special session earlier this year and the $800 million raised last spring, Kennedy says the state now has more money than it has had since 2007-08—the years following Hurricane Katrina —which saw some $150 billion injected into the economy from the rebuilding efforts. “The governor says we need another $750-800 million. Why? What’s happened in that two-year period to require us to need more money?” Kennedy said during an interview with The Courier and Daily Comet. Read the full story.
Exiting: UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, announced today that it would stop selling health plans through the Affordable Care Act next year in most of the 34 of states where it operates. The Los Angeles Times reports the move, widely expected for months, will likely have relatively little effect on what most consumers pay for health coverage, as other insurers have out-competed UnitedHealth in the marketplaces created by the 2010 health law. Nor will the decision seriously threaten UnitedHealth, as the marketplaces are a small fraction of the insurance giant’s overall business, which includes providing coverage to millions of people who get health benefits through an employer. Read the full story.
