HEALTH CARE
Steward buys eight hospitals for $304 million
Steward Health Care System of Boston paid $304 million to buy eight hospitals last week from a national hospital chain, Community Health Systems Inc. The previously announced deal includes three hospitals in Ohio, two in Pennsylvania, and three in Florida. It is Steward’s first out-of-state acquisition. The deal was announced in February, but the sale price was not disclosed until after the transaction was completed last week. Together, the eight hospitals add about 1,800 beds to the for-profit Steward system, doubling the company’s size. “As we expand our integrated, community-based health care model to new regions, we look forward to ensuring the highest level of care for our new patients,” Dr. Mark Girard, a Steward executive, said in a recent statement. Community Health Systems, based in Franklin, Tenn., is one of the country’s largest publicly traded hospital companies. — PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
ENERGY
New entrant in offshore wind farm battle
Watch out, Eversource, DONG, and Deepwater Wind. There’s a new rival in the offshore wind farm battle taking shape off the Martha’s Vineyard coast. Avangrid Renewables, an affiliate of Spain’s Iberdrola SA, has acquired a 50 percent stake in Vineyard Wind from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). A state energy law passed last summer mandates the big utilities in Massachusetts to buy as much as 1,600 megawatts of power from offshore wind providers over an extended period of time. Eversource and DONG have already teamed up for one proposal, and Deepwater is pushing another. The Vineyard Wind project is the third. CIP acquired the development rights last year right after the energy legislation became law. Iberdrola will bring important construction and operating experience to the mix, as well as its undisclosed financial investment in the project. — JON CHESTO
RIDE HAILING
Uber running program in Mass. to let drivers buy injury protection
Massachusetts is one of eight states where Uber is running a pilot program that provides drivers with insurance for personal injuries and lost wages — paid for by riders. Drivers can now choose to purchase insurance to cover medical expenses and missing work from on-the-job accidents, with coverage up to $1 million for a single accident. Passengers in Massachusetts and the other states will be hit with a 5-cent-a-mile surcharge to pay for the program; Uber will charge a 25 percent service fee, with the remaining 3.75-cent-per-mile forwarded onto the drivers to purchase the insurance. Uber established the system in partnership with insurance companies One Beacon and Aeon. Uber insurance director Gus Fuldman said it developed the program at the request of many drivers saying they would value such a policy. Uber, which classifies its workers as independent contractors and not employees, has been criticized over driver pay and benefit issues. Rebecca Smith, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project, which studies low-income labor issues, criticized Uber for not paying for the coverage itself. “Instead of paying workers’ compensation premiums to cover all of its workers, as responsible businesses do, Uber will charge drivers for the medical care and time-loss benefits that the rest of us get by virtue of working at a job,” Smith said. The insurance is also being piloted in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia, Delaware, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Arizona. — ADAM VACCARO
PHARMACEUTICALS
FDA clears EMD Serono drug to treat a type of bladder cancer
Federal regulators Tuesday cleared an EMD Serono cancer drug, initially approved to treat an aggressive skin cancer, to also treat a common type of bladder cancer. The injectable drug, called Bavencio — jointly developed by Rockland-based EMD Serono and New York pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. — got the Food and Drug Administration’s OK to treat patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. FDA regulators first approved Bavencio in March to treat adults and children 12 years and over with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer. — ROBERT WEISMAN
REGULATION
Gottlieb confirmed as FDA commissioner
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Dr. Scott Gottlieb as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration despite Democratic questions about his financial ties to medical companies the agency regulates. Gottlieb is a physician-turned-health-consultant who has criticized many FDA regulations as unnecessary and has faced criticism from Democrats over his financial entanglements. The vote was 57-42. At his confirmation hearing in April, he pledged that science will prevail at the agency. He said he is a cancer survivor who understands firsthand the importance of the FDA. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
INVESTMENTS
Senators want federal probe into Icahn’s investment in oil refiner
Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire activist investor, was once known for causing consternation in the boardroom. Now, he is the source of much hand-wringing on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, eight Democratic senators led by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for a federal investigation into whether Icahn violated laws against insider trading and market manipulation in his role as a special adviser to President Trump. In the letter addressed to current and acting heads of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the senators raised questions about Icahn’s majority investment in CVR Energy, an oil refiner. At issue is whether CVR — a company that Icahn controls — made decisions based on nonpublic information it had access to thanks to Icahn’s close ties to the Trump administration. CVR is required by the EPA to either blend its oil with ethanol or buy credits. The senators suggest CVR timed its buying and selling of these credits based on information Icahn had about coming policy changes. Icahn and CVR did not reply to requests for comment. — NEW YORK TIMES
E-COMMERCE
Amazon lowers its free shipping threshold to undercut Walmart
Amazon.com Inc. lowered its free shipping threshold to $25 from $35, undercutting Walmart by $10 and escalating a battle between the world’s e-commerce leader and the world’s biggest retailer. The new minimum shows Amazon competing for shoppers who don’t pay $99-a-year for Amazon Prime, which includes free two-day shipping on millions of items as well as access to music and video. These customers are the Seattle-based company’s most loyal shoppers. Amazon will make non-Prime shoppers wait 5 to 8 business days for free shipping on more than 50 million items. Walmart in January made a big push against Amazon Prime when the retail giant offered free two-day shipping without a membership fee on orders of at least $35 while expanding its online marketplace inventory to include millions of items. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
TECHNOLOGY
Amazon gives Echo a screen
Amazon is giving its voice-enabled Echo speaker a touch screen and video-calling capabilities as it competes with Google’s efforts at bringing ‘‘smarts’’ to the home. The 7-inch screen on the new Echo Show enables the speaker to supplement voice responses with visuals and other information displays, similar to the Echo-like features offered on the Fire tablets and Fire TV streaming devices. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
ECONOMY
Number of job postings at a low
Steady job growth has left US employers with an increasingly shallow pool of unemployed workers to consider hiring, something that could lead to faster wage gains. The number of job postings for each unemployed person fell in March to its lowest level in more than 16 years, according to a report released Tuesday by the Labor Department. This means that businesses may face fewer qualified applicants for jobs and could choose to increase pay in order to attract workers — possibly causing wages to accelerate after several years of sluggish growth. — ASSOCIATED PRESS