By Sarah Karlin-Smith; Politico ~ Aug 03, 2017

The Senate approved a bill Thursday that would allow seriously ill patients in all 50 states to request access to experimental medicines without Food and Drug Administration approval.

From Howard Gleckman; Forbes ~ Aug 02, 2017

Two of the greatest sources of frustration for Medicare recipients and their families are hospital observation status and the government’s incredibly complex appeals process. On Monday, a federal judge in Hartford, CT certified a class action lawsuit aimed at addressing both.

From H.W. Brands; The Hill ~ Jul 30, 2017

When the Social Security Act of 1935 was being drafted, liberals chided Franklin Roosevelt for the measure’s funding method, via payroll taxes, which did little to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

Roosevelt responded that the critics misunderstood the purpose of the payroll taxes. “We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and the unemployment benefits.

Fox Business ~ Jul 25, 2017

Despite President Trump’s disdain for Time Warner’s (TWX) cable network CNN, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson (T) remains confident the $85 billion deal will get done.

“We continue to expect the Time Warner deal to close by year-end and further transform the company” said Stephenson in the company’s latest earnings statement released late Tuesday.

From David Lazarus; Los Angeles Times ~ Jul 25, 2017

Scott Gottlieb, head of the Food and Drug Administration, wasted no time in his opening remarks at a forum last week on high drug prices.

“The fact is that too many people can’t afford the medicines that they need,” he declared.

On that, I hope, we can all agree.

By Carol Wilson; Light Reading ~ Jul 24, 2017

Network operators are “uniquely positioned” to convert their central offices and cell towers into distributed computing facilities to support a wide range of third-party applications including self-driving cars, industrial robotics and augmented/virtual reality, a top AT&T executive is saying.

By Jeanne Sahadi ; CNNMoney ~ Jul 24, 2017

Republicans in Congress are gearing up to fight for lower tax rates. But how do you pay for those cuts? One possible solution on the table: Taxing you on your retirement savings up front.

Several people in the retirement savings industry fear that lawmakers will choose to “Rothify” some or all of employees’ 401(k) contributions.

By Susan Jones; Cybercast News Service ~  Jul 21, 2017

(CNSNews.com) – The best way to get health care reform through Congress is to make members of Congress live under Obamacare, Sen. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) told Fox News on Friday:

They were supposed to be under the statute, but what happened was, when it was being implemented in 2013, the Obama administration issued an administrative rule which effectively exempted Congress from what would happen under Obamacare.

By Lisa Marie Segarra; Fortune ~ Jul 20, 2017

The Social Security Administration is warning people against a new scam trying to defraud people out of their Social Security checks.

The calls have been coming from a 323 area code and claim to be from a Social Security Administration employee, according to a release from the administration. The caller tells the victim they are eligible for an increase in their Social Security benefits for a 1.7% cost-of-living adjustment.

By Suzanne Woolley; Bloomberg ~ Jul 20, 2017

Alicia Munnell wants to make one thing clear. Social Security is not going bankrupt. The program that the economist calls “the most valuable component of our retirement system” is a sustainable system and can be fixed. America has just been avoiding the hard choices it has to make if it wants to keep Social Security around for future generations.