By Roger Yu; USA TODAY ~ Jan 26, 2017
That Saturday morning call from an unlisted number? It might be someone calling on behalf of the IRS.
Starting this spring, the IRS plans to use selected private debt collectors to go after overdue federal tax debts, reigniting a previously failed experiment in an effort to boost revenue. The agency, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, hasn’t set a specific start date.
By Troy Parks; AMA Wire ~ Jan 26, 2017
The issue of rising prescription drug prices was one of 2016’s biggest health care headlines, and will likely make news again this year. A group of physicians recently voiced their concerns and one theme carried through all of their statements: the need for more transparency in how prescription drugs are priced.
From 2013 to 2015, out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs rose 20 percent.
By Mary Troyan; USA TODAY ~ Jan 24, 2017
WASHINGTON — The firebrand conservative congressman from South Carolina nominated to run President Trump’s budget office told Congress on Tuesday that if confirmed, he will make cutting the national debt a top priority. But he also suggested changes to entitlement programs that the new president has not endorsed.
“I believe, as a matter of principle, that the debt is a problem that must be addressed sooner, rather than later,” Rep. Mick Mulvaney said at the opening of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Budget Committee.
By Toni Clarke & Susan Cornwell; Reuters ~ Jan 24, 2017
President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a U.S. congressional panel on Tuesday that he does not support the privatization of Medicare.
Speaking before the Senate Committee on Finance, one of two committees that oversee the health department, Representative Tom Price, a Georgia orthopedic surgeon, also said his position reflects that of Trump, who has stated he does not want to cut Medicare.
By Scott Moritz; Bloomberg ~ Jan 20, 2017
AT&T Inc. signed up new pay-TV customers for the first time in seven quarters thanks entirely to its new live online video service, DirecTV Now.
Pensions & Investments ~ Jan 20, 2017
Financial industry lobbyists on Friday were expecting quick action by the Trump administration to delay a Labor Department investment advice rule.
Staff members at two trade associations said they were anticipating a move as early as Friday afternoon, hours after Donald Trump was inaugurated, or on Jan. 23.
It could come in the form of a directive from the White House to acting agency heads to delay regulations that aren’t yet operational and to review them.
The lobbyists spoke on condition of anonymity.
By Mindy Yochelson; Bloomberg ~ Jan 19, 2017
No one said it would be a cinch reducing a mammoth taxpayer subsidized drug benefit.
The Medicare Part B benefit pays for drugs administered in doctors’ offices and outpatient facilities. It weighed in at $26 billion in 2015 and is growing at 9 percent a year.
Last year, the Medicare agency got clobbered with objections from thousands of interest groups and beneficiaries when it proposed a multifaceted demonstration from its innovation center to test alternative drug payment structures.
By Ronald Brownstein; The Atlantic ~ Jan 18, 2017
As congressional Republicans race to repeal and replace President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, one of their principal challenges is finding an alternative that does not expose older and less affluent white voters at the core of Donald Trump’s electoral coalition to greater costs and financial risk.
The paradox of the health-reform debate is that many of Obamacare’s key elements raised costs on younger and healthier people who generally vote Democratic as a means of limiting the financial exposure of older and sicker people, even as older whites have stampeded toward the GOP.
By David Lazarus; Los Angeles Times ~ Jan 17, 2017
Insurance companies are playing the odds, patient advocates say. They’re counting on people not having the stamina to challenge every denied claim, even when there’s a valid medical reason for a drug or treatment being covered.
“It’s intimidating,” said Betsy Imholz, special projects director for Consumers Union. “It’s hard to understand the process and many people feel that the default answer from insurers is no.”
By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool – Jan 16, 2017
Most retirees rely heavily on Social Security for their income in retirement, and annual cost-of-living increases are an important way for seniors to keep up with rising expenses. Yet many Social Security recipients believe that the price index that the Social Security Administration uses doesn’t accurately reflect the expenses that they pay. Instead, a measure called the CPI-E, or Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, aims to measure price changes for the items and services that seniors use most frequently.
