By Allen Cone; United Press International ~ Apr 12, 2018

April 12 (UPI) — Americans with income tax refunds are using a great deal of the payments on medical expenses, according to a study conducted by JPMorgan Chase Institute.

Taxes are due by April 17, but millions of Americans have already filed their forms and received their refund.

The institute analyzed out-of-pocket spending of 1.2 million Chase account holders who received a refund between 2014 and 2016 and found a “dramatic link between healthcare spending and tax refunds.”

From Linda Melone; MarketWatch ~ Apr 10, 2018

You can still keep fit if you follow these rules

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org.
Working out the same way in your 50s as you did in your 30s sets you up for a world of hurt. Changes in flexibility, muscular strength, bone density and recovery time make injuries more likely if you don’t adjust accordingly

From Bob Carlson; Forbes ~ Apr 10, 2018

Maintaining your financial security in retirement is harder than ever. There are factors threatening your plans for lifetime income security. Retirees have had to deal with some of these trends for years, but others are relatively new, or are becoming more significant.

Your job isn’t done when you retire. Things change during retirement, and you have to keep up with the changes.

From Bart Astor; Forbes ~ Apr 09, 2018

Throughout our lives we’ve heard that as a society we have great respect for our older citizens. After all, businesses give discounts to seniors and we’ve set up great government programs to help those in need as they age. Medicare is terrific, providing insurance for those who need health care. And Social Security has helped millions and millions of Americans sustain themselves after their work years are no longer possible, or as a supplement to savings.

By Molly Smith; Bloomberg ~ Apr 06, 2018

* Exchange offer on bonds issued to finance Time Warner deal
* Telecoms provider still faces nearly $1 billion of costs

AT&T Inc.’s approval from about a third of bondholders to exchange notes backing its planned Time Warner Inc. acquisition may not make a significant dent in debt costs it was designed to cut.

By Kristen Andrews Wilson; The National Law Review ~ Apr 05, 2018

The increased use of technology by health care providers requires new and innovative platforms to provide better services to patients. One platform that has garnered attention since its introduction in mid-2014 is Amazon’s Echo, a brand of smart speakers that connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service, Alexa. The device responds to certain “wake words” (the default being “Alexa”) and is capable of playing music, making lists, setting alarms and accessing other real-time information.

From Liz Weston; MarketWatch ~ Apr 02, 2018

Why reverse mortgages are a harder sell

This article is reprinted by permission from NerdWallet.

The millions of Americans who haven’t saved enough money for retirement still have a potential safety net: their home equity. But recent changes to reverse mortgages mean seniors and their families may have tougher decisions to make.

By Anick Jesdanun; The Associated Press ~ Mar 31, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) — Though Facebook gets the attention because of a recent privacy gaffe, the social network is far from alone in collecting massive amounts of data on you to help marketers sell you stuff.

Google, for one, also does extensive tracking to power its advertising engines. And many other websites and apps run ads sold by Facebook and Google and exchange data with them. Beyond that, plenty of services including Uber and Amazon keep detailed histories on you.

From Arlene Weintraub; Forbes ~ Mar 30, 2018

Last week, in a speech with President Donald Trump at Manchester Community College in New Hampshire, newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared that one of his priorities is to lower drug prices. He said he would roll out “a whole slate of” proposals for doing so in about a month. Azar didn’t elaborate, but in an address to the Federation of American Hospitals earlier this month, he did say that that a crucial piece of addressing high drug costs would be to force pharmaceutical companies to be more transparent about their pricing practices.

From HealthDay News; United Press International ~ Mar 29, 2018

THURSDAY, March 29, 2018 — Medical care costs in the United States can be so overwhelming that Americans fear the cost of treatment more than the illness itself, a new poll shows.

“It’s shocking and unacceptable that medical bills strike more fear in the hearts of Americans than serious illness,” said Shelley Lyford.

She is president and CEO of West Health Institute, a San Diego-based research group that teamed up with NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct the nationwide poll.