Average retail price of gas falls 11 cents more in Maine

The average retail gasoline price in Maine fell 11 cents in the past week.

Website GasBuddy.com reports the average price was $2.58 per gallon according to a daily survey of 1,228 Maine outlets. The website says the national average fell 10.8 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.42 per gallon.

The website says prices on Sunday were 90.3 cents per gallon lower than the same day a year ago and 36.1 cents per gallon lower than one month ago. The national average decreased 80.4 cents per gallon over the last year and 41.1 cents per gallon over the last month.

Settlement could bring help to N.Y. homeowners

New York financial regulators have reached a settlement with Ocwen Financial Corp. requiring the nation’s largest subprime mortgage servicer to reform its practices and provide $150 million to help struggling New York homeowners.

The settlement of the state Department of Financial Services investigation also requires an independent monitor on site for up to three more years.

It calls for $50 million in direct restitution to former and current Ocwen homeowners in New York, with $10,000 each to those who lost their homes to foreclosure since 2009.

Benefits firm takes action on hepatitis C medication

The nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager is throwing its weight into the fight over high-cost hepatitis C drugs with a coverage restriction that might ultimately lower prices and improve patient access to groundbreaking treatments for the liver-destroying virus.

Express Scripts said Monday that it will no longer cover Sovaldi and Harvoni — two Gilead Sciences drugs that cost more than $80,000 each for a full course of treatment – or Johnson & Johnson’s Olysio starting Jan. 1, except under limited circumstances.

Instead, it will make AbbVie Inc.’s Viekira Pak, approved only Friday, the preferred treatment for patients who have the most common form of hepatitis C, genotype 1.

– From news service reports