By Jonnelle Marte; The Washington Post ~ Jan 07, 2016
In less than two weeks, taxpayers will be able to file their tax returns. But many taxpayers will have to wait longer to cash out their tax refunds thanks to new efforts from the IRS and state tax authorities to catch tax fraud.
Illinois announced this week that it will delay tax refunds to have more time to verify tax returns. State tax refunds won’t be issued until after March 1, the state’s department of revenue announced on Monday.
By Mark Miller; Reuters ~ Jan 07, 2016
CHICAGO – The U.S. stock market may give us a rocky ride in 2016, but the year is shaping up to be a good one for retirement savers. At long last, investment advisers may be required to put your best interests ahead of their own.
The U.S. Department of Labor is applying the finishing touches to the so-called fiduciary rule – a geeky-sounding phrase that actually will mean a great deal to anyone with a 401(k) or Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
By Carol Wilson; Light Reading ~ Jan 06, 2016
AT&T is seeing its best cost-per-megabyte gains for two decades, according to its top technologist, John Donovan.
In fact, Donovan said today that, after two decades in which its networks failed to match Moore’s Law improvements in performance, AT&T has now caught and exceeded that standard and will continue to improve by moving things from hardware to software and doing smarter planning of capital outlays.
The carrier is pushing beyond phones as it aims to connect cars, glucose monitors — and even the city you live in.
By Roger Cheng; CNET ~ Jan 05, 2016
AT&T once used the Consumer Electronics Show here in Las Vegas to show off its newest phones or tout its spiffed-up wireless network.
This year, it’s all about cars, glucose monitors and smart cities.
The Dallas-based telecom giant spent most of its presentation to developers Tuesday chatting up the potential of reaching its 132 million wireless customers and 45 million video customers.
By Laura Lorenzetti; Fortune ~ Jan 05, 2016
The telecom giant is betting big on connected health.
AT&T is doubling down on its commitment to connected health with the opening of its new venture at the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute in Houston, the fifth innovation center the company has started devoted to the Internet of things.
The AT&T Foundry for Connected Health, as it’s called, will open in February and focus on helping companies develop digital health innovations that connect caregivers and patients via wireless monitoring.
By Andrew G. Biggs; The Wall Street Journal ~ Jan 04, 2016
Every Democrat running for president has pledged to increase Social Security benefits, on grounds that Americans’ retirement savings are inadequate and the costs are affordable. Republicans in the race instead focus on restoring Social Security to solvency—by reducing benefits for high earners or raising the retirement age—and expanding opportunities for Americans to save. New data released Dec. 15 by the Congressional Budget Office suggest that the Republican approach is better grounded.
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar; The Associated Press ~ Jan 04, 2016
WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it’s coverage for end-of-life counseling or an experimental payment scheme for common surgeries, Medicare in 2016 is undergoing some of the biggest changes in its 50 years.
Grandma’s Medicare usually just paid the bills as they came in. Today, the nation’s flagship health-care program is seeking better ways to balance cost, quality and access.
By Mark Zdechlik; Kaiser Health News ~ Jan 04, 2016
Solicit opinions about health insurance and you’re almost guaranteed to find consensus: It’s mystifying and irritating.
“It just seems like a lot of the buzzwords are intended to just complicate the whole thing and make it more expensive,” said David Turgeon, 46.
Health-plan enrollment season rolls on, and people shopping on healthcare.gov and the other marketplaces have until Jan. 31 to pick a plan.
By Richard Eisenberg; MarketWatch ~ Jan 02, 2016
Prepare for complications with doctors, hospitals and insurers
This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org.
Your doctor and medical staff may get crankier. Your health insurance claims may be denied or delayed. You could be pressured to pay health care balances in full, rather than over time. Welcome to the new world of medical coding that took effect Oct. 1, 2015.
By The Editorial Board; The New York Times ~ Jan 02, 2016
This election season offers an opportunity to reframe the debate over Social Security. It is necessary, of course, to ensure the program’s long-term health beyond 2034, when the system is projected to come up short. But this can’t be done by broadly cutting benefits. In fact, there’s mounting evidence that Social Security, which has become ever more important in retirement, needs to be expanded.