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Dysfunctional Disability Judges
The federal government’s disability fund is set to run a $75 billion cash-flow deficit this year, and the program’s own judges are reportedly responsible for running it into the ground. Congressional reports have highlighted allegations of disability judges’ rubber-stamping cases,…
Healthcare prices are up, and patients are buying less
Healthcare spending by people who get their health insurance at work remained modest last year. Prices edged upwards, but people in employer-based plans made fewer trips to doctors, hospitals and pharmacies. Health spending increased 3.9% in 2013 for roughly 40…
Retirement costs that won’t be rising in 2015
Here’s some great news for retirees on fixed budgets that are often stretched by medical expenses. Monthly premiums for Medicare Part B and the related deductible for 2015 will remain the same as in 2013 and 2014, according to a…
New pain for seniors resulting from EPA ‘Climate Crusade,’ says AMAC
A new report by the Southwest Power Pool warns of dire short-term and long-term consequences, including power outages and blackouts, for 15 million consumers in nine states if the EPA imposes carbon dioxide emission restrictions on power plants. The news comes in…
Speculation swirls around what happens if federal subsidies go away
New language in contracts between the CMS and insurers operating on HealthCare.gov is grabbing attention, with some calling it an admission by the government that it might lose upcoming court battles dealing with insurance subsidies on the health portal and others saying the new…
Bill Would Cut Off Benefits to Nazis
A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would cut off Nazi war criminals from U.S. benefits. The bill introduced this week by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) comes in the wake of an Associated Press…
Wells Fargo’s grim retirement planning reality: Some want to ‘die early’
Wells Farg‘so & Co.latest progress report on Americans’ saving for retirement paints a grim picture. The bank found that people over 50 have actually salted away less for retirement than their younger cohorts. A new survey question revealed that 22…
Study Finds Link Between Air Toxics, Autism
A University of Pittsburgh study has found links between childhood autism spectrum disorder and exposure to higher levels of certain air toxics during pregnancy and the first two years of life. Researchers at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health discovered links…
The Real Story on How Much Obamacare Increased Coverage
We now have the Medicaid and private-market health insurance enrollment data for the second quarter of 2014 needed to complete the picture of how Obamacare’s rollout affected coverage. What we’ve learned is that the Obamacare gains in coverage were largely a…
Republicans strategize attack on Obamacare if they win the Senate
Count on two years of intensified battles over Obamacare if Republicans win control of the Senate in next month’s elections, which pollsters say they have a better-than-even chance of achieving. An obscure but critical reform provision likely to come under immediate attack is…