By CONNIE CASS, Mar 23, 11:07 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alan Thacker wants health coverage, but he can’t get help in his home state of Georgia. Mary Moscarello Gutierrez no longer can afford insurance in New Jersey. Justin Thompson of Utah refuses to be forced into the president’s health law.
Millions of people in the United States will remain uninsured despite this week’s final, frenzied push to sign them up under the health law. Their reasons are all over the map.
March 22, 2014, 6:02 a.m. EDT
There are easier ways to reduce one’s tax bill. But for many American taxpayers, this is the big one: the deduction for interest payments on home mortgages.
Homeowners in the U.S. last year received a total of roughly $70 billion in federal tax breaks through the deduction. But discussions in Congress about a broad tax overhaul are heating up, and all sorts of tax deductions — including the mortgage-interest deduction — are being discussed by both parties.
Supporters of the mortgage-interest deduction say it encourages homeownership and gives the middle class a better shot at financial security. The deduction helps middle-income purchasers by making their mortgage payments more affordable and by helping these families build equity in their homes.
Joe Harpaz, Contributor, 3/21/2014 @ 11:52AM
With just two weeks to go before the March 31 deadline for applying for health insurance on a government-run exchange, more than 5 million people have signed up for the new plans. When all is said and done, approximately 30 million previously uninsured Americans are expected to have health insurance, either through a government exchange, employer or Medicaid.
So, following that logic, the health insurers behind these plans should be raking in profits from millions of new customers, which, even at reduced rates, should allow them to reap huge rewards.
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Mar 19, 7:38 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cancer patients relieved that they can get insurance coverage because of the new health care law may be disappointed to learn that some the nation’s best cancer hospitals are off-limits.
An Associated Press survey found examples coast to coast. Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is excluded by five out of eight insurers in Washington state’s insurance exchange. MD Anderson Cancer Center says it’s in less than half of the plans in the Houston area. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is included by two of nine insurers in New York City and has out-of-network agreements with two more
WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) — Republican congressional leaders plan a listening tour to help develop an alternative to President Obama‘s healthcare plan, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy says.
McCarthy, R-Calif., and other leaders acknowledge there will be no bill on the table for months, if ever, the New York Times reported. Republicans plan a series of town hall meetings around the country to launch the “House Obamacare Accountability Project.”
Wade Pfau, Contributor, 3/18/2014 @ 3:17PM
With retirement, one sometimes sees the terms accumulation and decumlation. The accumulation phase is the pre-retirement period when we work and save for retirement. Upon retiring, decumulation begins. We need to determine the best way to spend down our assets and obtain lifelong income. When saving for retirement, the focus tends to be on asset growth and total returns. But after retiring the goal becomes to maintain a standard of living.
By Greg Richter, Monday, 17 Mar 2014 06:13 PM
A third of Americans currently uninsured still have no intention of buying health coverage even though they are required to do so by the Affordable Care Act, according to Bankrate’s latest Health Insurance Pulse survey.
Thirty-four percent contacted by telephone said they still have no intention of buying insurance. Most, 41 percent, cited cost as their reason, while 17 percent said they oppose Obamacare and 13 percent said they are healthy and don’t need insurance.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they do plan to purchase health coverage.
The Obama administration made its sixth update of the year on Obamacare enrollment Monday — without ever revealing how many customers have paid.
A blog post from Marilyn Tavenner, director of Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services, boasts 5 million sign-ups so far. The administration has updated the enrollment tally twice a month since millions of customers were required to pay their premiums, but officials have declined yet again to disclose payment information.
By Susan Jaffe, March 17th, 2014, 1:53 PM
Congress is still searching for money to avoid a 24 percent cut in pay for doctors who treat Medicare patients.
But seniors are already paying their share of the cost in premiums, as if the pay cut — scheduled to kick in on April 1 — won’t happen.
Seniors’ premiums cover 25 percent of their Medicare Part B outpatient services, including doctor visits, outpatient lab tests and hospital visits, medical equipment and home health care.
Summary:
AT&T is phasing out its “it’s not complicated” ad campaign in favor of new commercials that show just how complicated its network can be.
AT&T is preparing to do an about-face in its advertising strategy. Instead of the “it’s not complicated” campaign, which features actor Beck Bennett arguing the virtues of AT&T’s network with children, AT&T’s new ads pretty much take an “in fact, it’s really complicated” attitude.