Latest News
Physical Disability Discrimination Flies Under the Radar
Quite logically and necessarily, much has been written in these pages about the distasteful reality of racial, gender and religious prejudice in PR. But prejudice due to physical disabilities has receives little attention Take the example of a young man…
Medicare fraud by the billions; senators wrestle with how to stop it
It shows up almost daily, in a drumbeat of press releases from the Justice Department about prosecutions of scam artists who’ve preyed on the government’s biggest health care program — the $600 billion bureaucracy called Medicare. In the latest example,…
Don’t risk retirement when paying for college education
As graduation season approaches, financial planner Michael Garry often finds his advice to clients balancing retirement and college savings goals falling on deaf ears. “I tell them not to do anything (in terms of college spending) that will jeopardize retirement,…
1 in 4 Americans is saving nothing for retirement
The latest COUNTRY Financial Security Index released Thursday showed that one in four Americans, across all age groups, is not saving at all for retirement. A majority of respondents (55%) said they either are not participating in a workplace sponsored…
Light exercise linked to less disability
People who engage in plenty of light movement have a lower risk of developing a disability and losing their capacity to care for themselves, a new study suggests. The study included middle-aged and older adults who had knee osteoarthritis or…
Senator Merkley Introduces Legislation to Give Seniors a Raise
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today introduced the Fair Raises for Seniors Act in the Senate that would increase Social Security benefits for seniors by changing the cost of living adjustment (COLA) formula to keep up with inflation. The current formula…
Medicare May Be Overpaying for Short-Stay Patients
The federal government may be overpaying hospitals an estimated $5 billion as a result of the 18-month moratorium on enforcing a controversial rule that tells hospitals when patients should be admitted, an independent Medicare auditing company told a congressional panel. Last…
The impact of health costs on Social Security: another reason for an annuity
With the rules of retirement having been changed and the average retiree depending on Social Security more and more, the need to be able to help them generate another form of guaranteed income has never been greater. Social Security planning is…
Ways and Means hearing focuses on controversial 2-midnight rule
Tuesday’s House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hearing on current hospital issues in the Medicare program demonstrated that there is broad agreement that last year’s “2-midnight rule” for determining hospital inpatient status in a more standardized way…
Same-sex couples save the most
If you’re a fan of “Modern Family”–or are simply aware of what’s going on around you—it should come as no surprise that fewer and fewer U.S. households resemble Ozzie and Harriet’s (or Phil and Claire Dunphy’s). But what kind of impact…