ABC is renewing the revival of "Roseanne" for an 11th season, the network announced Friday, after only one episode had aired. Thursday's premiere of “Roseanne” instantly made a big ratings splash, with its total viewer count become a best of season for any premiere telecast of over +3.4 million viewers to a 21.869 million average audience, ABC says.
Driving the news: The show has received national attention for its instant popularity and for its praise from the president — who telephoned the show's star actress, Trump-supporter Roseanne Barr — to congratulate her on the return of the sitcom.
Walmart is in early discussions about buying health insurer Humana, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Between the lines: A combined Walmart and Humana would control pharmacies, health insurance and a pharmacy benefit manager. Sound familiar? It’s almost identical to the CVS-Aetna deal.
Except Walmart and Humana would be geared heavily toward seniors and those living on more fixed incomes — the very same Medicare and Medicaid populations that have been growing like gangbusters as more baby boomers age and more states expand Medicaid to the poor.
The big picture: Until now, markets looked at President Trump, and at the tech sector, and saw good times. Now, markets are looking at Trump and tech and seeing risk.
Independent contractors and freelancers make up an increasing share of the workforce, yet Washington is largely neglecting the market where self-employed workers get health insurance. That's bad news for people in the burgeoning "gig economy," where work is divorced from an employer — and thus from employer-sponsored insurance.
Reproduced from a Brookings Institution analysis of BLS data; Chart: Axios Visuals
Why it matters: The Affordable Care Act sought to make the individual market more affordable and competitive. Today, though, those benefits are concentrated heavily toward lower-income consumers who get a subsidy to help pay their premiums, and Congress hasn't shown much interest in stabilizing it. But that market will be growing.