Streaming legends with hundreds of thousands of followers will encourage gamers to sign up for health insurance.
Reported by PCMag.com 2 days ago.
Twitch To Host White House Gaming Marathon
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New coalition will push back on repeal of Obama health law
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supporters of the 2010 health care law are launching a political coalition to block its repeal, targeting Republican lawmakers whose constituents may now be at risk of losing health insurance. Called “Protect Our Care,” the group will make its debut Friday. It’s made up of organizations that helped pass the Affordable Care […]
Reported by Seattle Times 2 days ago.
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Guarding And Protecting Access To Health Care
Guarding and Protecting Access to Health Care
We woke up to a different America after this month's presidential election. A nation divided became a nation at each other's throats. There have been protests from one coast to another with thousands of people sharing their grief and fear. Just as vehement, those whose candidate was successful have been calling the protesters crybabies and telling them they should shut up and get over their loss. Though Clinton was gracious in her defeat and Trump has quieted his rhetoric, the nation has yet to take notice.
In these troubled times, we still have the business of running the country to attend to.
One of the changes Donald Trump called for in his campaign was for the immediate repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often called "Obamacare." Earlier this month, just days before the election, Trump even asked Congress to convene a special session to repeal the ACA. Without a plan to replace the ACA, this could have potentially left millions of people without medical insurance.
The good news, if you can call it that, is that Trump, like most politicians, overstates his ideals and makes promises he never intended to keep. Since becoming president-elect last Wednesday, Trump has pulled away from his call to immediately repeal the ACA.
This softening regarding healthcare gives room to hope that a Trump presidency will not begin a complete rollback of access to medical services. There is no doubt that the ACA has some tremendous flaws, most notable of which are the high premiums many pay for their policies. There is no question that we need healthcare reform. Trump has now indicated, however, not only will the act not be completely repealed, but that changes will not come until a replacement policy or program is ready. He hopes for a seamless transition between practices.
There are some aspects of the ACA that should be retained. Trump has indicated that he is likely to keep at least some of them.
1. No return to pre-existing condition limitations.
2. Allow young people up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents' insurance policy.
3. No return to lifetime limits on coverage.
4. No return to different pricing for men and women.
We also need to address the ways in which the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act will be integrated into any new legislation. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) is a federal law that generally prevents group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits from imposing less favorable benefit limitations on those benefits than on medical/surgical benefits." Retaining the MHPAEA will ensure that those in need of mental health services and addiction treatment will have access to care.
It is possible that Trump may include the MHPAEA in his revision of the ACA. Trump has spoken positively of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that was passed, but not fully funded, earlier this year. He seems to recognize the need for quality mental health care and addiction services to be offered to keep Americans healthy and to stem the tide of accidental opioid overdose deaths that have claimed tens of thousands of American lives.
While it is understandable that Trump may not want to share his views on how to deal with ISIS publicly, he claims that doing so alerts our enemies to our plans, domestic healthcare policy is a different scenario. Those of us involved in healthcare need to know as quickly as possible what the changes will be to the system, so that we can get thousands of institutions in order and ready for the changes, so that millions of patients will continue to receive the care they need.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
We woke up to a different America after this month's presidential election. A nation divided became a nation at each other's throats. There have been protests from one coast to another with thousands of people sharing their grief and fear. Just as vehement, those whose candidate was successful have been calling the protesters crybabies and telling them they should shut up and get over their loss. Though Clinton was gracious in her defeat and Trump has quieted his rhetoric, the nation has yet to take notice.
In these troubled times, we still have the business of running the country to attend to.
One of the changes Donald Trump called for in his campaign was for the immediate repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often called "Obamacare." Earlier this month, just days before the election, Trump even asked Congress to convene a special session to repeal the ACA. Without a plan to replace the ACA, this could have potentially left millions of people without medical insurance.
The good news, if you can call it that, is that Trump, like most politicians, overstates his ideals and makes promises he never intended to keep. Since becoming president-elect last Wednesday, Trump has pulled away from his call to immediately repeal the ACA.
This softening regarding healthcare gives room to hope that a Trump presidency will not begin a complete rollback of access to medical services. There is no doubt that the ACA has some tremendous flaws, most notable of which are the high premiums many pay for their policies. There is no question that we need healthcare reform. Trump has now indicated, however, not only will the act not be completely repealed, but that changes will not come until a replacement policy or program is ready. He hopes for a seamless transition between practices.
There are some aspects of the ACA that should be retained. Trump has indicated that he is likely to keep at least some of them.
1. No return to pre-existing condition limitations.
2. Allow young people up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents' insurance policy.
3. No return to lifetime limits on coverage.
4. No return to different pricing for men and women.
We also need to address the ways in which the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act will be integrated into any new legislation. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) is a federal law that generally prevents group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits from imposing less favorable benefit limitations on those benefits than on medical/surgical benefits." Retaining the MHPAEA will ensure that those in need of mental health services and addiction treatment will have access to care.
It is possible that Trump may include the MHPAEA in his revision of the ACA. Trump has spoken positively of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that was passed, but not fully funded, earlier this year. He seems to recognize the need for quality mental health care and addiction services to be offered to keep Americans healthy and to stem the tide of accidental opioid overdose deaths that have claimed tens of thousands of American lives.
While it is understandable that Trump may not want to share his views on how to deal with ISIS publicly, he claims that doing so alerts our enemies to our plans, domestic healthcare policy is a different scenario. Those of us involved in healthcare need to know as quickly as possible what the changes will be to the system, so that we can get thousands of institutions in order and ready for the changes, so that millions of patients will continue to receive the care they need.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago.
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Top House Republican Unveils Plan To Gut Social Security
WASHINGTON ― President-elect Donald Trump distinguished himself on the campaign trail as the rare Republican candidate promising not to cut Social Security and Medicare.
But Republicans in Congress have other plans for the two popular social insurance programs ― and they are wasting no time rolling them out.
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security, released a plan Thursday to reform Social Security that would drastically reduce benefits. The bill would make the program less of a universal earned benefit and more of a means-tested safety net that aims only to provide basic support to the poorest retirees and disabled workers.
In order to close Social Security’s long-term funding gap, Johnson would make Social Security’s benefit formula less generous for all but the lowest earners, rapidly raise the retirement age and reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustment, among other changes designed to save money.
Johnson also proposes changes that would cost the program money, like an increased minimum benefit for the poorest retirees ― provided they have a long history of covered employment ― and the elimination of income taxes on Social Security.
Under Johnson’s plan, a middle-class 65-year-old claiming benefits in 2030 ― one with average annual earnings of about $49,000 over 30 years of covered employment ― would experience a 17 percent benefit cut relative to what the program currently promises them, according to the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary. A 65-year-old with the same earnings history claiming benefits in 2050 would experience a 28 percent benefit cut compared to current law.
“For years I’ve talked about the need to fix Social Security so that our children and grandchildren can count on it to be there for them just like it’s there for today’s seniors and individuals with disabilities,” Johnson said in a statement introducing the bill. “My commonsense plan is the start of a fact-based conversation about how we do just that. I urge my colleagues to also put pen to paper and offer their ideas about how they would save Social Security for generations to come.”
Due to the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation, Social Security faces financial strain in the coming years. If Congress fails to act to either reduce the program’s obligations or increase its revenue by 2034, a 21 percent across-the-board benefit cut will automatically take effect.
Conservatives like Johnson favor closing this funding gap by reducing benefits.
Many progressives would rather address it entirely through revenue increases, such as lifting the cap on earnings subject to Social Security taxes. President Barack Obama and the vast majority of congressional Democrats have recently even coalesced behind expanding benefits to address the inadequacy of Americans’ other sources of retirement income.
Linda Benesch, a spokeswoman for Social Security Works, a progressive organization supporting benefits expansion, noted that for many workers, Johnson’s plan would cut benefits more than if Congress did nothing and allowed the automatic cuts to take effect.
Benesch dismissed the increase in benefits for the poorest earners, which she said would be insignificant relative to the large cuts for middle-class earners and tax cuts for wealthy retirees.
“A minimum benefit increase is a staple of a lot of Republican plans to cut benefits because they want the veneer of increasing benefits,” she said. “But that’s just a stalking horse for what this plan would do over time, which is to turn it into a poverty-level benefit and not an earned benefit.”
That would in turn risk reducing popular support for Social Security, which enjoys widespread backing thanks to its status as a universal wage replacement program, Benesch argued.
Protecting Medicaid, Benesch said, “is going to be a lot harder precisely because it is [a] benefit targeted to poorer folks rather than a universal benefit.”
Even Third Way, a more business-friendly Democratic think tank often at odds with Social Security Works over the former’s support for other plans that cut benefits, largely panned Johnson’s bill.
“Chairman Johnson deserves credit for putting out a plan,” Gabe Brown, deputy director of Third Way’s economic program, said in an e-mail. “But this is the Bernie Sanders plan of the right. It is a partisan, ideological plan that reaches solvency entirely through benefit reductions, and harms retirement security as a result.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who has built a career on ambitious proposals to scale back social insurance programs, has repeatedly said he plans to prioritize overhauling Medicare. Although Trump hasn’t weighed in on the matter since the election and Senate Republicans have signaled their wariness at the prospect, Congressional Democrats are already expressing their excitement at the idea of a fight over the popular seniors’ health insurance program.
In an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” this past Sunday, however, Ryan indicated he had no comparable plans to reform Social Security.
But Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the incoming ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, seized on Johnson’s plan as a sign that Ryan has already changed his mind.
“As Congressional Republicans prepare to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid, it now appears that Social Security has been added to the Republicans’ chopping block,” Neal said in a statement Friday. “America’s seniors will be alarmed to hear that the top Republican on this important Subcommittee quietly put forward a plan to drastically cut Social Security benefits for millions of seniors.”
“Democrats will fight any effort to undercut Social Security, just as we will fight any plan to replace Medicare with a voucher,” he added.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 22 hours ago.
But Republicans in Congress have other plans for the two popular social insurance programs ― and they are wasting no time rolling them out.
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security, released a plan Thursday to reform Social Security that would drastically reduce benefits. The bill would make the program less of a universal earned benefit and more of a means-tested safety net that aims only to provide basic support to the poorest retirees and disabled workers.
In order to close Social Security’s long-term funding gap, Johnson would make Social Security’s benefit formula less generous for all but the lowest earners, rapidly raise the retirement age and reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustment, among other changes designed to save money.
Johnson also proposes changes that would cost the program money, like an increased minimum benefit for the poorest retirees ― provided they have a long history of covered employment ― and the elimination of income taxes on Social Security.
Under Johnson’s plan, a middle-class 65-year-old claiming benefits in 2030 ― one with average annual earnings of about $49,000 over 30 years of covered employment ― would experience a 17 percent benefit cut relative to what the program currently promises them, according to the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary. A 65-year-old with the same earnings history claiming benefits in 2050 would experience a 28 percent benefit cut compared to current law.
“For years I’ve talked about the need to fix Social Security so that our children and grandchildren can count on it to be there for them just like it’s there for today’s seniors and individuals with disabilities,” Johnson said in a statement introducing the bill. “My commonsense plan is the start of a fact-based conversation about how we do just that. I urge my colleagues to also put pen to paper and offer their ideas about how they would save Social Security for generations to come.”
Due to the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation, Social Security faces financial strain in the coming years. If Congress fails to act to either reduce the program’s obligations or increase its revenue by 2034, a 21 percent across-the-board benefit cut will automatically take effect.
Conservatives like Johnson favor closing this funding gap by reducing benefits.
Many progressives would rather address it entirely through revenue increases, such as lifting the cap on earnings subject to Social Security taxes. President Barack Obama and the vast majority of congressional Democrats have recently even coalesced behind expanding benefits to address the inadequacy of Americans’ other sources of retirement income.
Linda Benesch, a spokeswoman for Social Security Works, a progressive organization supporting benefits expansion, noted that for many workers, Johnson’s plan would cut benefits more than if Congress did nothing and allowed the automatic cuts to take effect.
Benesch dismissed the increase in benefits for the poorest earners, which she said would be insignificant relative to the large cuts for middle-class earners and tax cuts for wealthy retirees.
“A minimum benefit increase is a staple of a lot of Republican plans to cut benefits because they want the veneer of increasing benefits,” she said. “But that’s just a stalking horse for what this plan would do over time, which is to turn it into a poverty-level benefit and not an earned benefit.”
That would in turn risk reducing popular support for Social Security, which enjoys widespread backing thanks to its status as a universal wage replacement program, Benesch argued.
Protecting Medicaid, Benesch said, “is going to be a lot harder precisely because it is [a] benefit targeted to poorer folks rather than a universal benefit.”
Even Third Way, a more business-friendly Democratic think tank often at odds with Social Security Works over the former’s support for other plans that cut benefits, largely panned Johnson’s bill.
“Chairman Johnson deserves credit for putting out a plan,” Gabe Brown, deputy director of Third Way’s economic program, said in an e-mail. “But this is the Bernie Sanders plan of the right. It is a partisan, ideological plan that reaches solvency entirely through benefit reductions, and harms retirement security as a result.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who has built a career on ambitious proposals to scale back social insurance programs, has repeatedly said he plans to prioritize overhauling Medicare. Although Trump hasn’t weighed in on the matter since the election and Senate Republicans have signaled their wariness at the prospect, Congressional Democrats are already expressing their excitement at the idea of a fight over the popular seniors’ health insurance program.
In an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” this past Sunday, however, Ryan indicated he had no comparable plans to reform Social Security.
But Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the incoming ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, seized on Johnson’s plan as a sign that Ryan has already changed his mind.
“As Congressional Republicans prepare to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid, it now appears that Social Security has been added to the Republicans’ chopping block,” Neal said in a statement Friday. “America’s seniors will be alarmed to hear that the top Republican on this important Subcommittee quietly put forward a plan to drastically cut Social Security benefits for millions of seniors.”
“Democrats will fight any effort to undercut Social Security, just as we will fight any plan to replace Medicare with a voucher,” he added.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 22 hours ago.
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Senate Democrats Give Up On Coal Miner Health Benefits As Government Shutdown Looms
Coal-state Senate Democrats on Friday appeared to back off their threat to shut down the government over health benefits for retired coal miners after an impasse with Republicans.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who led the push for a one-year extension of health care benefits for miners, railed against House members Friday evening for leaving town without committing to provide a better solution for miners next year. Manchin said he would vote against a continuing resolution later Friday to keep the government open, but didn’t threaten to hold up the vote on the year-end spending bill ― effectively caving on the threat to shut down the government.
“I rise today fighting for the working men and women that we all use in our commercials,” Manchin said on the floor. “Every one of us goes out and basically tries to attract working men and women to vote for us because we say we’re coming here to fight for you, we’re going to stand up for you, no one’s going to walk over you, no one’s going to push you aside, no one’s going to forget about you. Every one of us have done those ads ― every one of our 435 [House] members, who had to go home yesterday because it was time for Christmas.”
Manchin and a bipartisan coalition of senators have pressured Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for more than a year to pass legislation that would protect the health and pension benefits for unionized miners. McConnell wouldn’t budge until this week, when he insisted that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) include a four-month extension of miners’ health benefits ― set to expire for nearly 17,000 at the end of the month.
But Manchin and other coal-state Democrats wanted a one-year commitment of funds, arguing that just four additional months of benefits would cause whiplash for miners and their widows relying on the health insurance.
One after another, coal-state Democrats appeared on the Senate floor Friday to join Manchin in his outrage over the four-month extension. Each said they would vote against the continuing resolution, but nevertheless expected a vote to be held on Friday.
“We are not going away, so anyone who thinks that tonight is the end of the chapter, we’re just getting warmed up,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said, promising that Democrats would return to the issue next year.
Senators also are scheduled to vote on a water resources bill Friday night that authorizes money to help Flint, Michigan, deal with its water crisis. Senators are rushing to consider legislation before they leave town for the year.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the Democrats fighting alongside Manchin, said Thursday night that a four-month extension provides no certainty for the miners, whose pensions also are in jeopardy.
“Who wants to live that way? Who should have to live that way?” Brown said outside the Capitol with United Mine Workers representatives and five Senate colleagues. “You’re going to have insurance, but it’s going to run out, and then maybe we’ll renew it but maybe we won’t.”
McConnell on Friday morning mocked Democrats for picking a fight over the health benefits when House Democrats voted for the four-month extension in large numbers a day earlier. McConnell pledged that lawmakers would work on a longer extension in April and said “it’s highly unlikely that we’ll take it away.”
“Lets just be honest about the real reason these people are hurting because President Obama has been standing on their neck for eight years,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Friday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pushed back when she came to the Senate floor to support Manchin’s effort. She said the coal industry’s decline has been forced by changes in the energy market.
“Today, coal generates only about 30 percent of our power,” Warren said. “Coal prices plummeted and other sources of energy like natural gas have become more prevalent.”
A lapse in health coverage for miners, she said, could be a matter of life or death after years of back-breaking, dangerous work.
“Losing health insurance is tough for anyone, but for coal miners it is a killer, literally,” Warren said. “Coal miners face far higher rates of cardio-pulmonary disease, cancer, black lung and other injuries than most other Americans.”
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 21 hours ago.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who led the push for a one-year extension of health care benefits for miners, railed against House members Friday evening for leaving town without committing to provide a better solution for miners next year. Manchin said he would vote against a continuing resolution later Friday to keep the government open, but didn’t threaten to hold up the vote on the year-end spending bill ― effectively caving on the threat to shut down the government.
“I rise today fighting for the working men and women that we all use in our commercials,” Manchin said on the floor. “Every one of us goes out and basically tries to attract working men and women to vote for us because we say we’re coming here to fight for you, we’re going to stand up for you, no one’s going to walk over you, no one’s going to push you aside, no one’s going to forget about you. Every one of us have done those ads ― every one of our 435 [House] members, who had to go home yesterday because it was time for Christmas.”
Manchin and a bipartisan coalition of senators have pressured Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for more than a year to pass legislation that would protect the health and pension benefits for unionized miners. McConnell wouldn’t budge until this week, when he insisted that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) include a four-month extension of miners’ health benefits ― set to expire for nearly 17,000 at the end of the month.
But Manchin and other coal-state Democrats wanted a one-year commitment of funds, arguing that just four additional months of benefits would cause whiplash for miners and their widows relying on the health insurance.
One after another, coal-state Democrats appeared on the Senate floor Friday to join Manchin in his outrage over the four-month extension. Each said they would vote against the continuing resolution, but nevertheless expected a vote to be held on Friday.
“We are not going away, so anyone who thinks that tonight is the end of the chapter, we’re just getting warmed up,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said, promising that Democrats would return to the issue next year.
Senators also are scheduled to vote on a water resources bill Friday night that authorizes money to help Flint, Michigan, deal with its water crisis. Senators are rushing to consider legislation before they leave town for the year.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the Democrats fighting alongside Manchin, said Thursday night that a four-month extension provides no certainty for the miners, whose pensions also are in jeopardy.
“Who wants to live that way? Who should have to live that way?” Brown said outside the Capitol with United Mine Workers representatives and five Senate colleagues. “You’re going to have insurance, but it’s going to run out, and then maybe we’ll renew it but maybe we won’t.”
McConnell on Friday morning mocked Democrats for picking a fight over the health benefits when House Democrats voted for the four-month extension in large numbers a day earlier. McConnell pledged that lawmakers would work on a longer extension in April and said “it’s highly unlikely that we’ll take it away.”
“Lets just be honest about the real reason these people are hurting because President Obama has been standing on their neck for eight years,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Friday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pushed back when she came to the Senate floor to support Manchin’s effort. She said the coal industry’s decline has been forced by changes in the energy market.
“Today, coal generates only about 30 percent of our power,” Warren said. “Coal prices plummeted and other sources of energy like natural gas have become more prevalent.”
A lapse in health coverage for miners, she said, could be a matter of life or death after years of back-breaking, dangerous work.
“Losing health insurance is tough for anyone, but for coal miners it is a killer, literally,” Warren said. “Coal miners face far higher rates of cardio-pulmonary disease, cancer, black lung and other injuries than most other Americans.”
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 21 hours ago.
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GOP's 'Obamacare' repeal path worries health care industry
[...] replacement legislation that covers a comparable number of people would still require billions in government financing and extensive regulations, a stumbling block for the most conservative Republicans. "Public opinion seems to be shifting," said John Rother, president of the National Coalition on Health Care, an umbrella organization that includes doctors, businesses, unions, and religious groups. — The two main hospital lobbies — the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals — released studies indicating more than $200 billion in potential losses for their members if the health law is repealed without restoring the funding cuts that were used to finance coverage expansion. "Losses of this magnitude cannot be sustained and will ... decimate hospitals' and health systems' ability to provide services, weaken local economies ... and result in massive job losses," the groups said in a letter to Trump. — Perhaps the most sobering assessment comes from a little-known group, the American Academy of Actuaries, representing professionals who assess the financial stability of pension and health insurance programs. The group said delaying the effective date of a repeal while a replacement is worked out could create such uncertainty that it triggers a crisis for the individual health insurance market.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 13 hours ago.
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Weekly Address: It’s Time to Get Covered on the Health Insurance Marketplace
In this week’s address, President Obama discussed Open Enrollment on the Health Insurance Marketplace, which began November 1. The deadline to sign up for coverage beginning on January 1 is this Thursday, December 15, and the final deadline to sign up for 2017 coverage is January 31. Today, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, every American with insurance is covered by the strongest set of consumer protections in history. For every person with insurance, preventive care is available with no cost sharing; there are no more annual or lifetime limits on essential health care; you can’t get charged more just for being a woman; young people can stay on a parent’s plan until they turn 26; seniors get discounts on their prescriptions; and no one can be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Although Republicans in Congress want to repeal this law, the President emphasized that we should build on the progress we’ve already made.
*To sign up for health care coverage, visit HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596. *
Transcript | MP4 | MP3 Reported by The White House 10 hours ago.
*To sign up for health care coverage, visit HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596. *
Transcript | MP4 | MP3 Reported by The White House 10 hours ago.
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Don't bet big on health law changes when mulling coverage
Why worry about buying health insurance when President-elect Donald Trump plans to dump the requirement that most Americans get coverage?
Reported by USATODAY.com 5 hours ago.
Reported by USATODAY.com 5 hours ago.
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Obamacare Enrollments Exceed 6 Million, Outpacing Last Year's Sign-Ups
WASHINGTON ― Health insurance enrollments on the federal exchange marketplaces served by HealthCare.gov are outpacing last year’s sign-ups, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced Wednesday.
As of Monday’s deadline for customers who want coverage that will be in place by Jan. 1, 6.4 million people had chosen plans in the 39 states where federal authorities operate the exchanges, including more than 2 million new customers.
The overall total is an increase of 400,000 from a comparable period a year ago, Burwell said. The 2 million new enrollees is down from the 2.4 million new customers who signed up during the same period last year, however. Last Thursday was a record-breaking day for HealthCare.gov enrollment, President Barack Obama said last week.
“We’re going to finish this open enrollment by trying to enroll more people than ever,” Burwell said during a conference call with reporters. “Today’s enrollment numbers confirm that some of the doomsday predictions about the marketplace are not bearing out.”
The enrollment figures made public Wednesday don’t include current customers whose plans will automatically be extended by the end of the year or the enrollments in 11 states and the District of Columbia, which run their own exchanges. A final tally ― which Burwell said would include millions of additional people ― will be revealed in January.
Several state-based exchanges also have announced sign-up figures.
Covered California had enrolled nearly 200,000 people as of Dec. 15, Washington Healthplanfinder in the Evergreen State had logged 180,000 as of Wednesday, and Your Health Idaho had enrolled almost 100,000 through Dec. 13. DC Health Link in the District of Columbia announced Friday that enrollment is 47 percent higher than a year ago, at more than 4,100 through Monday, while 28,000 people had signed up with Rhode Island’s HealthSource RI as of Saturday, a decline of 4,400 for the same period last year.
The Obama administration and state exchange officials faced significant challenges heading into the current open enrollment period, which began Nov. 15, chief among them were large increases in unsubsidized premiums. About 85 percent of exchange enrollees in 2015 and 2016 qualified for subsidies, but the remainder, along with millions who buy policies directly from an insurer or through a broker, stand to face the full brunt of the rate hikes next year.
Insurers raised prices to compensate for higher-than-expected expenses during the first two years of the exchanges, as too few healthy customers signed up to offset the cost of medical care for sicker enrollees. In addition, several major health insurance companies withdrew from the exchanges or at least reduced their participation, leading to fewer choices for consumers in many states.
Despite concerns this would depress enrollment, Burwell declared the results so far are in line with Department of Health and Human Services projections that the exchanges would grow by a little more than 1 million people during this sign-up period. The last day to enroll in coverage for 2017 is Jan. 31.
The Election Day success of President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans presented another short-term obstacle to a successful enrollment period. Consumers who understand the GOP has plans to undo the Affordable Care Act next year may have been reluctant to sign up for programs that may cease to exist.
Burwell encouraged people to enroll for 2017 despite this looming disruption. The Affordable Care Act remains the law and insurers are pledged to honor the coverage they sell during open enrollment, she said.
Trump and Republican leaders in Congress are poised to move legislation early next year to dismantle large portions of the Affordable Care Act, including the funding the law provides to subsidize private health insurance on the exchanges and to finance the Medicaid expansion for poor residents that 31 states and the District of Columbia adopted under Obamacare.
The GOP’s tentative plan is to enact this repeal and delay debating legislation on an alternative to the Affordable Care Act for up to four years, leaving insurers and customers in limbo about what may come next.
Citing an analysis by the Urban Institute, Burwell cautioned that this approach would not only result in coverage losses for those who would be without financial assistance and the guarantee of insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions, but also destabilize the insurance market for everyone who isn’t covered by job-based plans or government programs such as Medicare.
According to the Urban Institute, that could mean as many as 30 million people could become uninsured, reversing the Affordable Care Act’s role in providing coverage to 20 million people who previously lacked it and in driving down the uninsured rate to the lowest in history.
The likelihood of Obamacare repeal next year heightens the stakes for Burwell and the rest of the Obama administration.
Maximizing enrollment and creating a larger constituency for the Affordable Care Act’s benefits could provide better leverage for congressional Democrats and interest groups to slow down the repeal movement and influence the direction of Republican efforts to “replace” Obamacare. The GOP has never adopted a unified position on what its health care reform platform is.
“We want uninsured Americans to know one thing: They’ve not missed their chance for coverage,” Burwell said.
The Department of Health and Human Services will continue its advertising, outreach and social media campaigns into January, and the IRS will contact people who paid a tax penalty for not being insured last year informing them of their opportunity to enroll, she said.
But it will be the incoming Trump administration that will finish the current open enrollment period, which ends 11 days after the new president is inaugurated.
“We stand ready and we’ll work with the new incoming administration to do everything we can to prepare them for that role,” Burwell said. “We have done everything we can to make sure that the team that are the career staff, the people that are here serving in any administration, are ready.”
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 days ago.
As of Monday’s deadline for customers who want coverage that will be in place by Jan. 1, 6.4 million people had chosen plans in the 39 states where federal authorities operate the exchanges, including more than 2 million new customers.
The overall total is an increase of 400,000 from a comparable period a year ago, Burwell said. The 2 million new enrollees is down from the 2.4 million new customers who signed up during the same period last year, however. Last Thursday was a record-breaking day for HealthCare.gov enrollment, President Barack Obama said last week.
“We’re going to finish this open enrollment by trying to enroll more people than ever,” Burwell said during a conference call with reporters. “Today’s enrollment numbers confirm that some of the doomsday predictions about the marketplace are not bearing out.”
The enrollment figures made public Wednesday don’t include current customers whose plans will automatically be extended by the end of the year or the enrollments in 11 states and the District of Columbia, which run their own exchanges. A final tally ― which Burwell said would include millions of additional people ― will be revealed in January.
Several state-based exchanges also have announced sign-up figures.
Covered California had enrolled nearly 200,000 people as of Dec. 15, Washington Healthplanfinder in the Evergreen State had logged 180,000 as of Wednesday, and Your Health Idaho had enrolled almost 100,000 through Dec. 13. DC Health Link in the District of Columbia announced Friday that enrollment is 47 percent higher than a year ago, at more than 4,100 through Monday, while 28,000 people had signed up with Rhode Island’s HealthSource RI as of Saturday, a decline of 4,400 for the same period last year.
The Obama administration and state exchange officials faced significant challenges heading into the current open enrollment period, which began Nov. 15, chief among them were large increases in unsubsidized premiums. About 85 percent of exchange enrollees in 2015 and 2016 qualified for subsidies, but the remainder, along with millions who buy policies directly from an insurer or through a broker, stand to face the full brunt of the rate hikes next year.
Insurers raised prices to compensate for higher-than-expected expenses during the first two years of the exchanges, as too few healthy customers signed up to offset the cost of medical care for sicker enrollees. In addition, several major health insurance companies withdrew from the exchanges or at least reduced their participation, leading to fewer choices for consumers in many states.
Despite concerns this would depress enrollment, Burwell declared the results so far are in line with Department of Health and Human Services projections that the exchanges would grow by a little more than 1 million people during this sign-up period. The last day to enroll in coverage for 2017 is Jan. 31.
The Election Day success of President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans presented another short-term obstacle to a successful enrollment period. Consumers who understand the GOP has plans to undo the Affordable Care Act next year may have been reluctant to sign up for programs that may cease to exist.
Burwell encouraged people to enroll for 2017 despite this looming disruption. The Affordable Care Act remains the law and insurers are pledged to honor the coverage they sell during open enrollment, she said.
Trump and Republican leaders in Congress are poised to move legislation early next year to dismantle large portions of the Affordable Care Act, including the funding the law provides to subsidize private health insurance on the exchanges and to finance the Medicaid expansion for poor residents that 31 states and the District of Columbia adopted under Obamacare.
The GOP’s tentative plan is to enact this repeal and delay debating legislation on an alternative to the Affordable Care Act for up to four years, leaving insurers and customers in limbo about what may come next.
Citing an analysis by the Urban Institute, Burwell cautioned that this approach would not only result in coverage losses for those who would be without financial assistance and the guarantee of insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions, but also destabilize the insurance market for everyone who isn’t covered by job-based plans or government programs such as Medicare.
According to the Urban Institute, that could mean as many as 30 million people could become uninsured, reversing the Affordable Care Act’s role in providing coverage to 20 million people who previously lacked it and in driving down the uninsured rate to the lowest in history.
The likelihood of Obamacare repeal next year heightens the stakes for Burwell and the rest of the Obama administration.
Maximizing enrollment and creating a larger constituency for the Affordable Care Act’s benefits could provide better leverage for congressional Democrats and interest groups to slow down the repeal movement and influence the direction of Republican efforts to “replace” Obamacare. The GOP has never adopted a unified position on what its health care reform platform is.
“We want uninsured Americans to know one thing: They’ve not missed their chance for coverage,” Burwell said.
The Department of Health and Human Services will continue its advertising, outreach and social media campaigns into January, and the IRS will contact people who paid a tax penalty for not being insured last year informing them of their opportunity to enroll, she said.
But it will be the incoming Trump administration that will finish the current open enrollment period, which ends 11 days after the new president is inaugurated.
“We stand ready and we’ll work with the new incoming administration to do everything we can to prepare them for that role,” Burwell said. “We have done everything we can to make sure that the team that are the career staff, the people that are here serving in any administration, are ready.”
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 days ago.
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Obamacare enrollment up in Illinois, U.S. despite fears about program's future
Despite Obamacare's shaky future, more Illinois residents signed up for health insurance through the law's exchange this year than last, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.
This year, 247,818 people in Illinois signed up on the exchange by the Dec. 19 deadline to purchase... Reported by ChicagoTribune 4 days ago.
This year, 247,818 people in Illinois signed up on the exchange by the Dec. 19 deadline to purchase... Reported by ChicagoTribune 4 days ago.
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'Obamacare' holding its own: 6.4M signed up so far
Despite rising premiums, dwindling insurers and the Republican vow to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, about 400,000 more people signed up through Monday than for a comparable period in 2015, the Health and Human Services Department said. "There are zero signs that the ACA's marketplaces are in danger of imminent collapse," said Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, who has followed the health care law from its inception. Premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan in HealthCare.gov states are going up an average of 25 percent next year, driven by lower-than-expected enrollment and higher medical costs. [...] about one-third of U.S. counties will have only one marketplace insurer next year because some major commercial carriers have left the market, and many nonprofit insurance co-ops created by the law have collapsed. [...] an estimated 5 million to 9 million people buy individual policies outside HealthCare.gov and state markets that offer financial assistance. Independent analyst Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere Health said the administration should be concerned about the apparent slowdown in new consumers. The 2010 health overhaul added coverage for about 20 million people through a combination of subsidized private health insurance and a state option to expand Medicaid.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 4 days ago.
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GOP Congressman Urges Self-Rationing Of Health Care After Obamacare Repeal
WASHINGTON ― Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) says there’s “definitely” going to be changes in health care delivery after Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act, and people are going to need to take more responsibility for the cost of their treatment.
He gave a personal example of how do this: When his 10-year-old son recently fell on the driveway one evening and injured his arm, Huizenga waited until the next day to take him to the doctor because it cost less than bringing him to the emergency room that night.
“We weren’t sure what was going on,” the GOP lawmaker said in a Monday interview with a local news outlet, MLive.com. “So I splinted it up, and we wrapped it up, and the decision was, okay, do we go to the E.R.? We thought it was a sprain, but weren’t sure. Took every precaution and decided to go in the next morning.”
It turned out his son’s arm was broken.
At a time when Republicans are broadcasting plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act next year, it’s an unsettling proposition that people with an undiagnosed and potentially serious ailment or broken body part should choose to get treated later, or less often, to save money.
Huizenga said he “certainly” would have brought his son to the E.R. that night if he appeared seriously injured. But he’s not a doctor who can make a clear assessment. A broken bone not treated properly, for example, can fuse incorrectly and require a fresh break to heal properly. What appears to be a lingering cold may be pneumonia, which, left untreated, will make a person sicker and cost even more to remedy. Cancer not caught early is much more likely to be fatal.
For all their complaints about Obama’s signature accomplishment, Republicans have yet to unveil a health care replacement for the Affordable Care Act despite vowing to do so for nearly six years. The program currently provides 20 million people with health insurance.
The Michigan congressman’s comments are in line with a long-held, free-market view of the health care system. But a free market assumes actors are free to make choices. A sick or badly injured person is often not the best negotiator. And Huizenga’s child, of course, didn’t get to make his own choice.
“At some point or another, we have to be responsible, or have part of the responsibility for what’s going on,” Huizenga said. “When it’s those types of things ― do you keep your child home from school and take them the next morning to the doctor because of a cold or a flu versus taking them into the emergency room ― if you don’t have any cost difference, you know, you’ll make different decisions.”
A request for comment from Michigan Children’s Protective Services on the appropriateness of Huizenga’s decision was not returned.
Ryan Grim contributed reporting.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 days ago.
He gave a personal example of how do this: When his 10-year-old son recently fell on the driveway one evening and injured his arm, Huizenga waited until the next day to take him to the doctor because it cost less than bringing him to the emergency room that night.
“We weren’t sure what was going on,” the GOP lawmaker said in a Monday interview with a local news outlet, MLive.com. “So I splinted it up, and we wrapped it up, and the decision was, okay, do we go to the E.R.? We thought it was a sprain, but weren’t sure. Took every precaution and decided to go in the next morning.”
It turned out his son’s arm was broken.
At a time when Republicans are broadcasting plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act next year, it’s an unsettling proposition that people with an undiagnosed and potentially serious ailment or broken body part should choose to get treated later, or less often, to save money.
Huizenga said he “certainly” would have brought his son to the E.R. that night if he appeared seriously injured. But he’s not a doctor who can make a clear assessment. A broken bone not treated properly, for example, can fuse incorrectly and require a fresh break to heal properly. What appears to be a lingering cold may be pneumonia, which, left untreated, will make a person sicker and cost even more to remedy. Cancer not caught early is much more likely to be fatal.
For all their complaints about Obama’s signature accomplishment, Republicans have yet to unveil a health care replacement for the Affordable Care Act despite vowing to do so for nearly six years. The program currently provides 20 million people with health insurance.
The Michigan congressman’s comments are in line with a long-held, free-market view of the health care system. But a free market assumes actors are free to make choices. A sick or badly injured person is often not the best negotiator. And Huizenga’s child, of course, didn’t get to make his own choice.
“At some point or another, we have to be responsible, or have part of the responsibility for what’s going on,” Huizenga said. “When it’s those types of things ― do you keep your child home from school and take them the next morning to the doctor because of a cold or a flu versus taking them into the emergency room ― if you don’t have any cost difference, you know, you’ll make different decisions.”
A request for comment from Michigan Children’s Protective Services on the appropriateness of Huizenga’s decision was not returned.
Ryan Grim contributed reporting.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 days ago.
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Health Exchange Enrollment Jumps, Even as G.O.P. Pledges Repeal
The Obama administration said 6.4 million people had signed up so far for 2017 health insurance, an increase of 400,000 over a similar point last year.
Reported by NYTimes.com 4 days ago.
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Deadline is Friday to sign up for the state health-plan exchange
If Washingtonians need health insurance that begins Jan. 1 they must sign up by 11:59 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23.
Reported by Seattle Times 4 days ago.
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1.3M Floridians enrolled in Obamacare for 2017 coverage
Approximately 1.3 million Floridians signed up for 2017 health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act through HealthCare.gov, according to a Wednesday release from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Those 1.3 million Floridians who enrolled account for about 20.3 percent of the 6.4 million people across the U.S. who selected plans between Nov. 1 and Dec. 19, the Open Enrollment period for Jan. 1 coverage. The ACA, also known as Obamacare, saw more signups for 2017 coverage…
Reported by bizjournals 3 days ago.
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Everything you want to know about robo-advisor investing (but were afraid to ask)
This article was written by Colin Lalley of PolicyGenius.The New Year is here, which means it's time to look at the year ahead. For a lot of people, that means tackling some big resolutions: losing weight, being more mindful, writing that young adult dystopian novel you've been sitting on since you saw The Hunger Games.
It also means deciding what you're going to do to maximize your money.
Even if you've maxed out your 401(k) and/or IRA, that doesn't mean you still can't put your money to work. Investing is a four-letter word to a lot of people who think they'll be instantly overwhelmed by hours of research. But robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront have made investing easier than ever for everyone from novices to pros.
But are investment robo-advisors the right choice for you and your money in 2017? That depends on your individual situation, but it's important to know the pros and cons before you dive in.
*The pros of robo-advisor investing*Automated, algorithmic portfolio management has been around since 2005, but robo-advisors really entered the mainstream with popular services Betterment and Wealthfront in 2008; it's expected that by 2020, robo-advisors overall will manage $2 trillion in assets. Obviously, they're on the rise. So what are some of the things that investors like about them?*Robo-advisors are easy to use*
Investing can seem like another language to a lot of people. That's why the ease of use through robo-advisors - competing with the best investors while not needing a degree in finance - is a huge appeal.
Robo-advisors are, for the most part, hands off. In just a few minutes, you can provide minimal information, start with little money (usually $500, or sometimes even an account balance of $0), and, for true novices, select from a few categories based on your investment goals. If you tell the robo-advisor platform what you're looking for, whether it's long-term retirement savings, a high-risk-high-reward investment, or a 529 college savings account, it'll pick the best investments for you and manage things mostly on its own. Algorithms, most popular in the mainstream when talking about your Facebook news feed, are now a great way to manage your money.
*Robo-advisors simplify investing*
Robo-advisors also tackle some of the more complicated aspects of investing. Most robo-advisors (and most investing in general) follow modern portfolio theory, which is essentially a way to balance risk tolerance with expected returns. If you're a particularly risk-averse investor, you may be nervous about which assets are best for you to put your money; these platforms can decide that for you, giving you some peace of mind.
Tax-loss harvesting and rebalancing, which can help minimize the taxes you owe and reinvest your money so you can make the most of it, are also handled automatically by robo-advisors. In actively-managed funds, these extra steps are usually reserved for the highest-value accounts. Since robo-advisors can automate these processes, they're making them available to the masses so everyone can feel like the Wolf of Wall Street (minus the yachts and comical amounts of cocaine).
*Robo-advisors have relatively low fees*
When you think of investing, you might think of Wall Street fat cats who charge fees that are so high they end up making more off of your money than you do. And that's not completely off base.
Actively-managed mutual funds can have a fee of 1% or more. That seems pretty low, but it can really eat into your returns. When you compare that to popular robo-advisors - Wealthfront manages your first $10,000 for free and charges a 0.25% fee a year after that, while Betterment has a tiered system that starts at 0.35% and goes all the way down to 0.15% - it becomes obvious where your money leaks are.
In this age of the Great Recession and Occupy Wall Street, it's not hard to see why robo-advisors have become so popular. With a low-cost alternative to fund managers, beginning investors now feel like they have the ability to manage their money without needing to give most of it away.
*You can manage your investments in one place*
It's (going to be) 2017. We're used to having accounts all over the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Spotify and Apple Music. That's why it's nice to know that with robo-advisors, you're able to keep a lot of your money goals in one place, online in a secure setting.
This isn't a benefit that's exclusive to robo-advisors, of course. A flesh and blood financial advisor can help with that, too. But robo-advisors can make it easy to manage every investment you need through their platforms, no matter your goal.
Want to save for retirement? You can do that. Looking for a shorter-term account, like saving for a big vacation or a down payment on a house? You can do that, too. Robo-advisors are even starting to branch out further; earlier this year, Wealthfront launched a 529 project that lets you save specifically for your child's college education.
If the goal of robo-advisors is to make investment easy, it doesn't do much if your investment options are limited. As these platforms continue to grow and evolve, you'll be able to better control how completely you manage your money in one place.
*The cons of robo-advisor investing*So that's it, right? Case closed? Everyone should use robo-advisors?
Well, not exactly. While they're growing in popularity, robo-advisors still lack some crucial pieces that investors might be looking for.
*No personalized advice*
If you prefer your science-fiction like 2001, where robots are cold, heartless machines like HAL 9000, you might be wary of robo-advisors. And while robo-advisors won't start a machine uprising (at least not anytime soon), they don't do much for investors who want personalized advice.
Robo-advisors can be great at setting an investment foundation. But if you're risk averse, do you trust that a platform can get a full picture of what you want in a short questionnaire? What if you want a deeper dive into what is actually happening with your money, like the types of companies, funds, and assets you're investing in? What if you have questions about what effect recent world events will have on your money?
Robo-advisors still aren't great at giving truly personalized information. If you want someone to take a holistic view of your financial information, or even just to double check that you are understanding your finances correctly and making the ideal decisions to secure your future, find a financial advisor. Robo-advisors are for people who are more DIY about their money; if that's not you, you still have the option of sitting down with a human being - and should probably take it.
*No support for complex financial plans*
Robo-advisors aren't the best for complex financial plans, either. This builds off the point above: complex plans involve a lot of nuance and maybe even legal advice. Robo-advisors aren't necessarily part of that game yet. These platforms can make sure you invest your money in the correct broad categories, like deciding whether stocks or bonds are likely better for you, but they can't help you navigate the ins and outs of trusts or estate plans. For those, you're still better off seeing an actual person.
If you need to see a human advisor, use a service like GuideVine. This will allow you to see reviews of advisors, and can help you find the right person for simply discussing your money or giving you actual investment advice. While this might cost you a little more, with the right advisor you'll be paying for quality, tailored advice - not just someone who's looking to make a quick buck off of your money.
Overall, robo-advisors provide a good user experience - we're all used to slick apps and fancy interfaces, and these platforms make sure that they fit right in with your daily online browsing - and are great options for investors who are just starting out and want to dip their toes in the world of investments, or for people with a simple financial plan who just need an affordable, straightforward place to start their retirement plans. But for people who want a human touch for their investment, think about going with a real-life financial advisor who you can talk to about your money.
Whichever path you take, make sure you do tackle your investment plans in 2017. The sooner you get started planning for college, retirement, or any other financial milestone, the better off you'll be.*****PolicyGenius is rethinking insurance from the consumer's perspective - because it's about time somebody did. We're making it easy to learn about, shop for and buy insurance. Our digital insurance advisor and online quote engines for life insurance, health insurance, pet insurance, renters insurance and long-term disability insurance will help you to get the coverage you need.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 3 days ago.
It also means deciding what you're going to do to maximize your money.
Even if you've maxed out your 401(k) and/or IRA, that doesn't mean you still can't put your money to work. Investing is a four-letter word to a lot of people who think they'll be instantly overwhelmed by hours of research. But robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront have made investing easier than ever for everyone from novices to pros.
But are investment robo-advisors the right choice for you and your money in 2017? That depends on your individual situation, but it's important to know the pros and cons before you dive in.
*The pros of robo-advisor investing*Automated, algorithmic portfolio management has been around since 2005, but robo-advisors really entered the mainstream with popular services Betterment and Wealthfront in 2008; it's expected that by 2020, robo-advisors overall will manage $2 trillion in assets. Obviously, they're on the rise. So what are some of the things that investors like about them?*Robo-advisors are easy to use*
Investing can seem like another language to a lot of people. That's why the ease of use through robo-advisors - competing with the best investors while not needing a degree in finance - is a huge appeal.
Robo-advisors are, for the most part, hands off. In just a few minutes, you can provide minimal information, start with little money (usually $500, or sometimes even an account balance of $0), and, for true novices, select from a few categories based on your investment goals. If you tell the robo-advisor platform what you're looking for, whether it's long-term retirement savings, a high-risk-high-reward investment, or a 529 college savings account, it'll pick the best investments for you and manage things mostly on its own. Algorithms, most popular in the mainstream when talking about your Facebook news feed, are now a great way to manage your money.
*Robo-advisors simplify investing*
Robo-advisors also tackle some of the more complicated aspects of investing. Most robo-advisors (and most investing in general) follow modern portfolio theory, which is essentially a way to balance risk tolerance with expected returns. If you're a particularly risk-averse investor, you may be nervous about which assets are best for you to put your money; these platforms can decide that for you, giving you some peace of mind.
Tax-loss harvesting and rebalancing, which can help minimize the taxes you owe and reinvest your money so you can make the most of it, are also handled automatically by robo-advisors. In actively-managed funds, these extra steps are usually reserved for the highest-value accounts. Since robo-advisors can automate these processes, they're making them available to the masses so everyone can feel like the Wolf of Wall Street (minus the yachts and comical amounts of cocaine).
*Robo-advisors have relatively low fees*
When you think of investing, you might think of Wall Street fat cats who charge fees that are so high they end up making more off of your money than you do. And that's not completely off base.
Actively-managed mutual funds can have a fee of 1% or more. That seems pretty low, but it can really eat into your returns. When you compare that to popular robo-advisors - Wealthfront manages your first $10,000 for free and charges a 0.25% fee a year after that, while Betterment has a tiered system that starts at 0.35% and goes all the way down to 0.15% - it becomes obvious where your money leaks are.
In this age of the Great Recession and Occupy Wall Street, it's not hard to see why robo-advisors have become so popular. With a low-cost alternative to fund managers, beginning investors now feel like they have the ability to manage their money without needing to give most of it away.
*You can manage your investments in one place*
It's (going to be) 2017. We're used to having accounts all over the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Spotify and Apple Music. That's why it's nice to know that with robo-advisors, you're able to keep a lot of your money goals in one place, online in a secure setting.
This isn't a benefit that's exclusive to robo-advisors, of course. A flesh and blood financial advisor can help with that, too. But robo-advisors can make it easy to manage every investment you need through their platforms, no matter your goal.
Want to save for retirement? You can do that. Looking for a shorter-term account, like saving for a big vacation or a down payment on a house? You can do that, too. Robo-advisors are even starting to branch out further; earlier this year, Wealthfront launched a 529 project that lets you save specifically for your child's college education.
If the goal of robo-advisors is to make investment easy, it doesn't do much if your investment options are limited. As these platforms continue to grow and evolve, you'll be able to better control how completely you manage your money in one place.
*The cons of robo-advisor investing*So that's it, right? Case closed? Everyone should use robo-advisors?
Well, not exactly. While they're growing in popularity, robo-advisors still lack some crucial pieces that investors might be looking for.
*No personalized advice*
If you prefer your science-fiction like 2001, where robots are cold, heartless machines like HAL 9000, you might be wary of robo-advisors. And while robo-advisors won't start a machine uprising (at least not anytime soon), they don't do much for investors who want personalized advice.
Robo-advisors can be great at setting an investment foundation. But if you're risk averse, do you trust that a platform can get a full picture of what you want in a short questionnaire? What if you want a deeper dive into what is actually happening with your money, like the types of companies, funds, and assets you're investing in? What if you have questions about what effect recent world events will have on your money?
Robo-advisors still aren't great at giving truly personalized information. If you want someone to take a holistic view of your financial information, or even just to double check that you are understanding your finances correctly and making the ideal decisions to secure your future, find a financial advisor. Robo-advisors are for people who are more DIY about their money; if that's not you, you still have the option of sitting down with a human being - and should probably take it.
*No support for complex financial plans*
Robo-advisors aren't the best for complex financial plans, either. This builds off the point above: complex plans involve a lot of nuance and maybe even legal advice. Robo-advisors aren't necessarily part of that game yet. These platforms can make sure you invest your money in the correct broad categories, like deciding whether stocks or bonds are likely better for you, but they can't help you navigate the ins and outs of trusts or estate plans. For those, you're still better off seeing an actual person.
If you need to see a human advisor, use a service like GuideVine. This will allow you to see reviews of advisors, and can help you find the right person for simply discussing your money or giving you actual investment advice. While this might cost you a little more, with the right advisor you'll be paying for quality, tailored advice - not just someone who's looking to make a quick buck off of your money.
Overall, robo-advisors provide a good user experience - we're all used to slick apps and fancy interfaces, and these platforms make sure that they fit right in with your daily online browsing - and are great options for investors who are just starting out and want to dip their toes in the world of investments, or for people with a simple financial plan who just need an affordable, straightforward place to start their retirement plans. But for people who want a human touch for their investment, think about going with a real-life financial advisor who you can talk to about your money.
Whichever path you take, make sure you do tackle your investment plans in 2017. The sooner you get started planning for college, retirement, or any other financial milestone, the better off you'll be.*****PolicyGenius is rethinking insurance from the consumer's perspective - because it's about time somebody did. We're making it easy to learn about, shop for and buy insurance. Our digital insurance advisor and online quote engines for life insurance, health insurance, pet insurance, renters insurance and long-term disability insurance will help you to get the coverage you need.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 3 days ago.
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Catalyst Healthcare Appoints Michael Halligan as VP Sales
Sales Executive to Focus on Patient-Focused Medication Adherence Technologies
(PRWEB) December 22, 2016
Catalyst Healthcare, the leading provider of pharmaceutical adherence solutions, has announced the appointment of Michael Halligan as Vice President of Sales. A knowledgeable sales management leader, Mr. Halligan brings more than 30 years’ experience in the software industry, most recently working with QHR Technologies where he led the sales of electronic medical records software as the Vice President of Business Development. Working closely with Catalyst Founder and CEO, Shane Bishop, along with recently hired COO, Ron Jost, Mr. Halligan will lead Catalyst’s sales approach as the Company continues to grow from the traditional long-term care space into the consumer-driven, patient-focused retail market of medication adherence technologies.
“I have been very interested in the work that Catalyst is doing with their adherence technology and I am excited to be joining the team,” said Mr. Halligan. “It has been said that healthcare is the last industry to incorporate technology in a way that truly improves health outcomes. Many companies are investing money in medical mobile apps that only serve one aspect of healthcare, but with the MyMedTimes™ smart mobile app and spencer™ medication dispenser Catalyst is offering technology that benefits not only pharmacists, but also the actual end user – the patient. Catalyst is providing a whole ecosystem for medical adherence, and the fact that this complete offering allows direct communication between pharmacists and patients is going to change the landscape of medication adherence. This is really what has drawn me to Catalyst.”
MyMedTimes™ is the only completely automated adherence app on the market. Fully integrated with Catalyst’s full suite of software, the app guides patients on which medications to take and when, and the interactive pharmacy dashboard allows pharmacists to monitor outcomes and to intervene with communication if non-adherence becomes an issue. The dashboard also provides data which the pharmacy can use to demonstrate they are tracking adherence and are managing patient compliance. The soon-to-be-released spencer™ advanced in-home medication dispenser is a smart, connected health hub that manages patient medication adherence and connects patients, caregivers and pharmacists via notifications and communications.
“Michael’s experience with sales management in the software industry, and in particular with healthcare software makes him perfectly suited to Catalyst as we expand our offerings in the retail market with our pharmacy software and MyMedTimes™ smart mobile app,” said CEO Shane Bishop. “Michael will focus on the growing patient/consumer retail market of medication adherence, working primarily to integrate Catalyst’s solutions with assisted or independent living facilities. In addition to working with pharmacies to serve that particular market, Michael will also work directly with health insurance organizations to improve medical adherence from that standpoint. Michael is really the ideal fit for Catalyst and I’m extremely pleased to be welcoming him to the team.”
Mr. Halligan is also highly experienced with analytics, reporting and data analysis, and plans to utilize this experience in his role at Catalyst. “With an established user-base, Catalyst will be in a position to promote the availability of data analytics,” said Mr. Halligan. “The assessment of data generated by Catalyst’s adherence solutions will be of great benefit to healthcare and health insurance organizations. We know there are trends in adherence and we will soon have the data to demonstrate a correlation between medication adherence technology and improvements in patient health.”
In addition to the hiring of key staff members Michael Halligan and Ron Jost, 2016 has been full of exciting developments for Catalyst Healthcare. The company has collaborated with McKesson Canada, and also recently entered into a contract to provide its full suite of adherence solutions to Rubicon Pharmacies. As Rubicon serves both retail and long-term care, this contract significantly bolsters Catalyst’s position in the retail marketplace as the company continues strategic expansion of their full-service medication adherence solutions.
About Catalyst
Catalyst provides high-quality software to pharmacists, nurses and patients to ensure that people receive medications safely and efficiently. Our determination to accelerate medication adherence is based on a history of serving long-term care and retail patients. For more information, visit http://www.catalystrms.com.
For more information, please contact:
Catalyst Healthcare
Kasumi Oda, VP of Marketing
(250) 469-3411
Kasumi[dot]oda[at]catalystrms[dot]com Reported by PRWeb 3 days ago.
(PRWEB) December 22, 2016
Catalyst Healthcare, the leading provider of pharmaceutical adherence solutions, has announced the appointment of Michael Halligan as Vice President of Sales. A knowledgeable sales management leader, Mr. Halligan brings more than 30 years’ experience in the software industry, most recently working with QHR Technologies where he led the sales of electronic medical records software as the Vice President of Business Development. Working closely with Catalyst Founder and CEO, Shane Bishop, along with recently hired COO, Ron Jost, Mr. Halligan will lead Catalyst’s sales approach as the Company continues to grow from the traditional long-term care space into the consumer-driven, patient-focused retail market of medication adherence technologies.
“I have been very interested in the work that Catalyst is doing with their adherence technology and I am excited to be joining the team,” said Mr. Halligan. “It has been said that healthcare is the last industry to incorporate technology in a way that truly improves health outcomes. Many companies are investing money in medical mobile apps that only serve one aspect of healthcare, but with the MyMedTimes™ smart mobile app and spencer™ medication dispenser Catalyst is offering technology that benefits not only pharmacists, but also the actual end user – the patient. Catalyst is providing a whole ecosystem for medical adherence, and the fact that this complete offering allows direct communication between pharmacists and patients is going to change the landscape of medication adherence. This is really what has drawn me to Catalyst.”
MyMedTimes™ is the only completely automated adherence app on the market. Fully integrated with Catalyst’s full suite of software, the app guides patients on which medications to take and when, and the interactive pharmacy dashboard allows pharmacists to monitor outcomes and to intervene with communication if non-adherence becomes an issue. The dashboard also provides data which the pharmacy can use to demonstrate they are tracking adherence and are managing patient compliance. The soon-to-be-released spencer™ advanced in-home medication dispenser is a smart, connected health hub that manages patient medication adherence and connects patients, caregivers and pharmacists via notifications and communications.
“Michael’s experience with sales management in the software industry, and in particular with healthcare software makes him perfectly suited to Catalyst as we expand our offerings in the retail market with our pharmacy software and MyMedTimes™ smart mobile app,” said CEO Shane Bishop. “Michael will focus on the growing patient/consumer retail market of medication adherence, working primarily to integrate Catalyst’s solutions with assisted or independent living facilities. In addition to working with pharmacies to serve that particular market, Michael will also work directly with health insurance organizations to improve medical adherence from that standpoint. Michael is really the ideal fit for Catalyst and I’m extremely pleased to be welcoming him to the team.”
Mr. Halligan is also highly experienced with analytics, reporting and data analysis, and plans to utilize this experience in his role at Catalyst. “With an established user-base, Catalyst will be in a position to promote the availability of data analytics,” said Mr. Halligan. “The assessment of data generated by Catalyst’s adherence solutions will be of great benefit to healthcare and health insurance organizations. We know there are trends in adherence and we will soon have the data to demonstrate a correlation between medication adherence technology and improvements in patient health.”
In addition to the hiring of key staff members Michael Halligan and Ron Jost, 2016 has been full of exciting developments for Catalyst Healthcare. The company has collaborated with McKesson Canada, and also recently entered into a contract to provide its full suite of adherence solutions to Rubicon Pharmacies. As Rubicon serves both retail and long-term care, this contract significantly bolsters Catalyst’s position in the retail marketplace as the company continues strategic expansion of their full-service medication adherence solutions.
About Catalyst
Catalyst provides high-quality software to pharmacists, nurses and patients to ensure that people receive medications safely and efficiently. Our determination to accelerate medication adherence is based on a history of serving long-term care and retail patients. For more information, visit http://www.catalystrms.com.
For more information, please contact:
Catalyst Healthcare
Kasumi Oda, VP of Marketing
(250) 469-3411
Kasumi[dot]oda[at]catalystrms[dot]com Reported by PRWeb 3 days ago.
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3 target groups for benefits outreach
Some 24 million people lacked health insurance at the start of open enrollment season, and Hispanics, millennials, and worker -More-
Reported by SmartBrief 3 days ago.
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Democrats lean on drug pricing as Obamacare repeal looms
Democrats are showing little interest in cooperating with the Republicans who control Congress on legislation to dismantle the Obamacare health insurance law but some are signaling a willingness to collaborate on action to curb rising drug prices. Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pledged...
Reported by Raw Story 3 days ago.
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,*I stopped trying to predict markets back in 2008 when the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Wall Street bankers, and their propaganda peddling media mouthpieces colluded to rig the markets to benefit the elite establishment players while screwing average Americans. *I haven’t owned any stocks to speak of since 2006. I missed the the final blow-off, the 50% crash, and the subsequent engineered new bubble. But that doesn’t stop me from assessing our true economic situation, market valuations, and historical comparisons in order to prove the irrationality and idiocy of the current narrative.
The proof of this market being rigged and not based upon valuations, corporate earnings, discounted cash flows, or anything related to free market capitalism, was the reaction to Trump’s upset victory. The narrative was status quo Hillary was good for markets and Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric would unnerve the markets. When the Dow futures plummeted by 800 points on election night, left wingers like Krugman cackled and predicted imminent collapse. *The collapse lasted about 30 minutes,* as the Dow recovered all 800 points and has subsequently advanced another 1,500 points since election day. Krugman’s predictive abilities proven stellar once again.
It’s almost as if the Deep State oligarchs and their Wall Street co-conspirators are declaring to the world they are still running this show. *Despite deteriorating economic conditions, skyrocketing debt, stagnant wages, and bubbles in the stock, bond, and real estate markets, the narrative being spun is a glorious future of tax cuts, less regulations, jobs coming back to America, and GDP growth so high, it will easily pay for all the tax cuts and spending increases. *You would think those high frequency trading machines, programmed by Ivy League MBA geniuses, would be smart enough to determine when markets are extremely overvalued as fundamentals are deteriorating.
*Something is not making sense. *During the debates Trump declared on more than one occasion the stock market was in a bubble. It is now 2,000 points higher and he is proclaiming its advancement as an endorsement of his plan to drastically cut taxes, spend trillions, and Make America Great Again. The financial media, which despised Trump six weeks ago, is now peddling an economic recovery, soaring future corporate profits, and a stock market poised to blast through 20,000 to higher and higher all-time highs.* I think that would be swell, but let’s examine a few facts before putting our life savings in Twitter and Fakebook stock.*
As proof that Wall Street despises Main Street, when oil prices rise this is seen as a huge positive by the criminal bankers, as they see oil as an investment to be manipulated for profits. Falling oil and gas prices benefit everyday Americans trying to balance their monthly budgets. The drop in gas prices from $3.70 per gallon in mid 2014 to $1.70 per gallon in early 2016 helped average Americans save enough to partially offset soaring Obamacare costs, rising rents and stagnant wages. But Wall Street and their corporate media talking heads have cheered the 33% increase in gasoline and the 85% increase in oil since February.* Just as with TARP, what is good for Wall Street is not good for Main Street.*
The Fed narrative of no inflation, supported by the sliced, diced, manipulated, massaged, hedonically and seasonally adjusted drivel produced by the government drones at the BLS, has benefited from the almost two year decline in gas and oil prices. That is now reversing itself, as gasoline prices have risen at an annualized rate of 20% over the last three months. It is poised to rise by 30% to 40% year over year in the next few months. *Even the Deep State government bureaucrats are having trouble disguising raging inflation in expenses affecting average Americans on a daily basis.*
Yellen and her fellow Ivy League academic puppets continue to flog the 2% inflation mantra, as if these theorists have any clue what the “ideal” rate of inflation should be. Even the manipulated core CPI has been running above 2% for all of 2016. Have you heard any captured media pundit report that CPI has been running at an annualized rate of 3.6% over the last three months? The Fed engineered housing bubble 2.0 has even driven the man made owners equivalent rent calculation up to a 3.5% annual rate.* The Fed’s latest bubble blowing adventure has also driven the home ownership rate to a 50 year low. So much for Bush’s ownership society dream.*
*Rental society seems more likely, especially for student debt burdened millennials working their Obama jobs at Shake Shack. *The Fed induced housing bubble, designed to sure up insolvent Wall Street bank balance sheets, has priced out millions of Americans and driven rents sky high, especially in metropolitan areas like NYC, SF, DC, and Chicago. The BLS’ manipulated data shows an annual increase of 3.9%, while in desirable areas, rents are rising by double digits.
*The truly hysterical drivel spewed by the BLS drones is that medical care costs are only rising at a 4% annual rate and only account for 8.4% of a family’s annual costs.* The gyrations and hedonistic seasonal adjustments they must make to somehow configure 20% to 50% increases in premiums, doubling of co-pays, and $6,000 deductibles into a 4% annual increase must be a wonder to behold as they plug their fake variables into their excel spreadsheets. Anyone living in the real world, outside of the Imperial Capital, knows their annual living expenses are rising by at least 5% to 10%.
As Obama takes his victory tour, taking credit for the stupendous jobs recovery, the deplorables in middle America know their real wages have barely budged during the entire Obama recovery. If the unemployment rate was really 4.6%, would real wages be growing at less than 1%? NO. They would be growing at 3% and the Fed Funds rate would be at 3%, not .50%. *With the labor participation rate at a thirty year low of 62.7%, a record number of Boomers having to work to survive, and 124 million full time employees supporting 102 million non-working Americans, you might have the real reason Trump won the election.*
*The false narrative propagated by the captured mainstream media propagandists has been the labor force participation rate falling is strictly due to Boomers retiring.* Despite data proving the median Boomer household has less than $20,000 saved for retirement, the talking heads and brainless bimbos on CNBC and other corporate media outlets continue to purposely mislead the public with misinformation about Boomers retiring to live lives of luxury and endless vacations.
*Meanwhile, the only demographic showing dramatic increases in labor participation are the old fogies who forgot to save.* How do the pundit propagandists explain the decline in participation by 25 to 54 year olds in their prime working years? Are they busy finding themselves? Did they hit the lottery?
*No matter how long Obama’s nose grows trying to convince the ignorant masses he has presided over the best economy in decades, inconvenient facts keep getting in the way. *When real median household income is lower than it was in 2000, and not materially higher than it was in 1989, you might have economic stagnation. When you take into consideration the systematic under-reporting of inflation over this time frame, the real numbers are far worse than those portrayed in the chart.
Obama hoots about all the jobs added during his reign of error, but fails to mention that 94% of all jobs added since 2004 were either temporary or independent contractor jobs. Low wage, part-time, no benefits, Obama jobs don’t pay the bills. That’s why a record number of Americans have to work multiple jobs to survive.
*The narrative about an improving economy, thriving jobs market, and glorious future is bullshit.* I know it. You know it. And your establishment puppeteers know it. But only “fake news” sites would dare reveal these inconvenient truths. *The willfully ignorant public doesn’t want to know the truth, because that would require critical thinking and making tough choices.*
If the unemployment rate is really 4.6% and GDP is really growing, why are retail sales in the dumper, even with auto makers giving their cars away at 0% interest for six years if you can sign an X on a loan document? At the same time, the establishment reports soaring consumer confidence, while consumers don’t act confident at all. Do you believe these propaganda surveys or your own eyes.
*This Christmas (we’re allowed to use that word again now that Trump is on his way) shopping season is going to be atrocious. *Retail sales over the last three months have grown at a pitiful 1.5%. If you adjust that for a true inflation rate of 5% or so, real retail sales are in decline. The bricks and mortar retailers are dying, as Amazon and other on-line outlets eat their lunch. The store closing announcements in February should be robust. More ghost malls coming to a neighborhood near you.
One of the strongest areas of spending during the Obama recovery has been restaurants and bars, as the obese masses have gorged themselves while drowning their low wage sorrows in craft beers.* But now, average Americans are so tapped out they can’t even afford the unlimited breadsticks at Olive Garden or the all you can eat crab legs at Red Lobster anymore.*
Restaurant sales have been in a downward trend for two years and have recently gone negative year over year. Where are all the new Obama jobs for heavily indebted college graduates going to come from if there are less retail clerks, waitresses and bartenders needed in this booming economy?
A critical thinking individual may be wondering how retail spending could even be positive if real household income is still below 2008 levels. You can thank the Fed, your $800 billion TARP contribution to Wall Street bankers, and millions of delusional borrowers lured back into spending money they don’t have for things they don’t need.
*Credit card debt is now approaching $1 trillion again for the first time since 2008. At least the Wall Street banks have repaid the favor of TARP and 0% borrowing rates from the Fed, by only charging 14% on credit card balances and racking up billions in late fees if the bill is paid one day late. They are true patriots.*
The real reason for the 25% increase in credit card debt since 2010 is because a huge number of households are surviving on their credit cards. You now can pay your electric, gas, water, sewer, phone, real estate taxes, and Federal taxes with a credit card. Of course, there is a 3% to 5% “processing fee” for your friendly Wall Street banker. Again, what a great bunch of guys. *This desperate way of life can go on for quite some time, but will end abruptly when the next financial crisis hits. *Wall Street bankers will cut credit lines and millions will go bankrupt and lose their homes again.
*This faux economic recovery has been financed by subprime student and auto loans.* Both loan bubbles are the result of the Obama administration’s disregard for credit risk or desire for having the loans repaid. The $1.4 trillion of student loan debt on the shoulders of taxpayers is a disaster in process. Over 25% of this debt is effectively in default. The taxpayer bailout will exceed $500 billion.
While the government still controlled Ally Financial (aka GMAC, aka Ditech) they started doling out subprime auto loans like candy, forcing the other lenders to follow suit. Now, every Tom, Dick and Laquisha in America is driving a new vehicle and auto loan delinquencies are skyrocketing. The record number of leases are now coming due. *The six and seven year auto loans are leaving millions underwater on their loans when they try to trade in for a new car. This is all coming to a head, just as it did in 2008.*
*So, any unbiased assessment of our economic situation clearly paints a pretty bleak picture. *Unwarranted confidence and false narratives spun by media pundits does not put bread on the table or pay your health insurance premiums. This brings us to the irrationality of financial markets and the implications when reality pops the delusional bubbles keeping hope alive.
The Fed finally raised rates by .25% last week, about three years too late. The bond market is now leading Yellen. She’s a follower at this point. The bond market knows real inflation is here and Trump’s articulated plans would lead to more inflation. That’s why the 10 year Treasury has risen from 1.3% in July to almost 2.6% today. For the math challenged, that’s a double in six months.
*The implications of this increase are yuuge. *The 1% surge in mortgage rates has effectively ended the refinancing business and will put a stake in the heart of an already faltering housing market. There is nothing like all-time high prices combined with rapidly rising interest rates to pop housing bubble 2.0.
*Obama and the Federal government have lucked out while doubling the national debt in the last eight years. *By financing the debt with short term bonds, the interest on the national debt of $432 billion is virtually the same as it was in 2007 before the debt orgy really got underway. A 1% rise in rates across the curve will result in a 50% increase in interest expense and $230 billion instantly added to the annual deficit. If interest rates rose back to 2008 levels, the annual interest would double to $900 billion. And this is before taking into account Trump’s tax cuts and spending increases. *There is no way out when your debt is $20 trillion and you add $4 billion per day.*
Trump’s plan to Make America Great Again is to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.* The USD is now the strongest it’s been since 2002. Why would a manufacturer utilizing low wages in the Far East and benefiting from the strong dollar by selling their products into the US, decide to pay US level wage rates and have to compete in world markets with the anchor of a record high USD around their necks?*
In case the brilliant stock analysts on Wall Street hadn’t noticed, the international conglomerates, which make up most of the S&P 500, will have to translate their international profits back into the US with the dollar at fourteen year highs. *Corporate earnings, which have been artificially boosted by record low interest rates, a weak dollar and stock buybacks, will continue their downward trend as rates rise, the dollar soars and buybacks dissipate. A perfect formula for record highs. Right?*
*This brings us back to the stock ma*rket. There isn’t a doubt in my mind the Wall Street shysters and their HFT supercomputers will achieve their goal of Dow 20,000 in the next few days. It’s a given. This is all part of the marketing plan. CNBC will have party balloons and streamers. Jim Cramer and Steve Liesman will breathlessly expound upon our glorious future and make up a believable rationale for the Trump rally – lower corporate and individual tax rates, along with ramped up government spending is just the ticket.
*What they will not tell you about is the extreme overvaluation of stocks based upon just about every historical measure used for the last century. *The well regarded, non-adjusted, historically accurate predictor of market crashes, Shiller PE Ratio has only been this high in 1929, 2000, and 2007. We all know what happened next. With earnings headed lower and stock prices at all-time highs, this will surely end well. Unless, of course, it’s different this time. Maybe we have a new Trump paradigm.
The pundits who dismiss the Shiller PE ratio as antiquated will also dismiss the other dozen or so metrics showing the stock market extremely overvalued. Wall Street, their media mouthpieces, and establishment hacks have a job to do – and that is to lure millions of useful idiots into the market just before they pull the rug out. *Two brutal lessons in the last sixteen years wasn’t enough. Lemming investors need to be hit up the side of their heads with a baseball bat for the third time. *Maybe they’ll learn this time. But, I doubt it.
No matter how you cut it, stocks are currently valued to deliver nominal returns of 0% (negative real returns) over the next twelve years, with the high likelihood of a 30% to 50% crash in the foreseeable future. That isn’t an opinion. It is based upon historically accurate valuation methods that have been used for decades. In the short term anything is possible. Maybe even valuations on par with the dot-com bubble are possible. *Of course, the NASDAQ fell 80% shortly thereafter, so we’ve got that going for us.*
As I’ve said previously, I have no dog in this hunt. I don’t trust these rigged markets or the Wall Street shysters rigging them.* Once the magical 20,000 is achieved and Trump takes office in January, all bets are off.* The establishment is pretending to play nice with Trump, but there is nothing like a 20% crash over a two week period to show him who’s really the boss. *I’m not predicting anything, but it sure looks like something wicked this way comes.*
Reported by Zero Hedge 3 days ago.
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