By Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post – Dec 23, 2017

TULSA — Tom Coomer has retired twice: once when he was 65, and then several years ago. Each time he realized that with just a Social Security check, “You can hardly make it these days.”

So here he is at 79, working full time at Walmart. During each eight-hour shift, he stands at the store entrance greeting customers, telling a joke and fetching a “buggy.” Or he is stationed at the exit, checking receipts and the shoppers that trip the theft alarm.

From Howard Gleckman; Forbes ~ Dec 23, 2017

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) promises that 2018 will be the year Congress attempts to reduce spending on big federal programs like Medicare. As that debate unfolds, keep this in mind: A 65-year old woman will need to have put aside $95,000 to have a just a 50/50 chance of paying her Medicare premiums and prescription drug costs over her remaining lifetime. If she wants to 90 percent chance of paying her Medicare bills, she’d need $147,000. The estimates are from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. ; CNBC ~ Dec 20, 2017

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that dire warnings of big Medicare cuts as a result of the GOP tax plan are scares tactic by Democrats.

The concern about reductions in Medicare and other federal programs stems from a Senate rule designed to prevent increases in the budget deficit.

By Thomas Phippen; The Daily Caller ~ Dec 20, 2017

Telecom giant AT&T is so pleased with tax reform plan that it will give more than 200,000 employees an extra $1,000 bonus, the company announced Wednesday.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed the Senate Tuesday evening, and was ratified once again by the House Wednesday.

By Bob Sullivan; MarketWatch ~ Dec 13, 2017

If you feel like there’s nothing left at the end of the month, you aren’t alone. A recent Pew study found that 46% of Americans spend more than they make every month. Nearly half!

So where’s all the extra money going?

By David Daikh & Cynthia A. Bradford; The Hill ~ Dec 13, 2017

Congress operates with good intentions; it is the good-faith pact it has with America’s citizens. However, when a well-meaning legislative framework ends up harming those it is meant to help due to flawed implementation, our elected lawmakers must correct course.

By Julie Appleby; Kaiser Health News ~ Dec 13, 2017

Some Americans who froze their credit reports following the big data breach this year at the credit-rating firm Equifax may be in for a surprise if they try to purchase insurance on the federal health law’s marketplaces. That freeze could trigger a delay in the application process.

By Charley Grant; The Wall Street Journal ~ Dec 11, 2017

American hospitals have a target on their backs. The latest merger talk is an attempt to rally their strength, but industry payers’ battle against high health-care costs shows no sign of letting up.

Two major nonprofit hospital chains, Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health, are in talks to combine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday

From KHN Morning Briefing; Kaiser Health News ~ Dec 11, 2017

Consumers are turning to sites such as GoodRx to see if their prices can beat the ones they get through their insurance. And in some cases they’re finding success.

ProPublica and The New York Times: Prescription Drugs May Cost More With Insurance Than Without It Having health insurance is supposed to save you money on your prescriptions.

Out-of-pocket spending including copayments and deductibles increased by 3.9 percent
By Ali Meyer; The Washington Free Beacon ~ Dec 08, 2017

Health care spending in the United States increased by 4.3 percent in 2016, which was 1.5 percentage points faster than the economy grew as a whole, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.