Is it Friday yet? ! Here’s what we’re looking at as we prepare for Congress to return to Washington next week.
Biden moves to limit ‘junk insurance’
President Joe Biden on Friday proposed a series of initiatives aimed at reducing health care costs. These include new restrictions on short-term insurance plans, which critics call “junk insurance” because they can leave patients with limited coverage and large medical bills owed.
Access to short-term insurance plans is typically cheaper than plans available under the Affordable Care Act, but they don’t offer comprehensive coverage (e.g., many don’t cover pre-existing conditions), but Trump expanded by the government. Painted them as a cheap alternative to Obamacare. Democratic policymakers say the plan is dangerous for consumers and will siphon off the healthier customers needed to keep the Federal Health Insurance Exchange functioning properly.
Under the new regulations, short-term plans will be limited to three months, with the possibility of extending for another month. Under the Trump administration, short-term plans of up to three years were available.
“The newly proposed rule closes a loophole exploited by the previous administration, where companies discriminate based on pre-existing medical conditions and deceive consumers into offering products that offer little or no coverage when they need it most. It allows us to offer misleading insurance products that can be bought,” the White House said. statement. “This rule, if finalized, will limit so-called ‘short-term’ plans to truly short-term, close the loopholes exacerbated by the previous administration, and establish clear disclosure to consumers about the limits of these plans. Become.”
Speaking at a White House event, Mr. Biden said the new policies were part of a “Bidenomics” program aimed at helping ordinary citizens. “It’s not necessarily medical, it’s being duped,” he said. “It’s a scam and must end.”
Other initiatives announced today include new limits on surprise medical bills and tighter regulation of credit cards issued to pay medical debt. The White House also said a new analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services found that 18.7 million people in Medicare Part D could save an estimated $400 a year in drug costs if the Suppress Inflation Act provisions take effect in 2025. pointed out to be shown. In total he will save $7.4 billion.
quote of the day
“It was a bad deal. The caution is not to give the governor too much power to call a selfish billionaire.”
— Talking to New York State Senator Sean Ryan wall street journal The $1 billion facility the state built for Tesla in Buffalo was built on what would have been the largest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere. The 1.2 million-square-foot site, which was leased to Tesla for $1 a year, employs far fewer employees than originally expected. An analysis by the New York Board of Accounts found an economic return of 54 cents for every dollar spent building the facility, and state officials have already written off about 90% of the original investment.
The project highlights the risks politicians take when channeling publicly funded investments for the benefit of private companies. EJ McMahon of the conservative think tank Empire Center for Public Policy told the WSJ that the Buffalo factory investment was one of the worst ever. “In terms of direct taxpayer costs, this could be one of the greatest economic development outrages in American history,” McMahon said.
Job growth slows in June, but remains marginal
The labor market expanded again in June as employers hired 209,000 people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday.
The figure was lower than expected and well below the revised 309,000 jobs added in May, a somewhat disappointing figure. But the results show that the economy is surprisingly strong despite softening employment. His average hourly earnings increased by 4.4% on an annual basis, and the unemployment rate fell by a tenth of a percentage point. 3.6%close to a 50-year low.
“It’s a solid straight through the middle. This little engine keeps zipping along the payroll report.” Said says University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers.
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Hsu said the report showed “the longest unemployment rate below 4% since the 1960s.” Su also noted that the labor force participation rate for middle-aged women (ages 25-54) hit a new high of 77.8% in June. She also said that the employment share of the overall population of middle-aged Americans rose to 80.9%, the highest since April 2001 and well short of the all-time high of 81.9% recorded in April 2000. .
“This expansion is forcing Americans to work at a pace they haven’t seen in this century,” writes Axios’ Neil Irwin.
Most analysts conclude that the report will likely increase the likelihood that the Fed will resume its anti-inflation policy of raising interest rates later this month. “The latest jobs and wages data provide further evidence that economic activity has not slowed as much as Fed officials had expected, with interest rates set to hit a 22-year high at their July 25-26 meeting. likely to be,” Wall Street reported.Journal reporter Sarah Chaney Cambon I have written. “Inflation has slowed from its recent peak a year ago, but is still about double the Fed’s 2% target.”
Today’s number: 8%
A Gallup poll released this week found only 8% of respondents said they trusted Congress, one of the lowest figures ever in an annual poll that tracks attitudes toward major US institutions.
Overall, trust in U.S. institutions is at an all-time low, with nine respondents saying they trust very or very much (Church/Organized Religion, Military, Supreme Court, Banks, Public Institutions) was only 26%. schools, newspapers, parliaments, organized workers, big business) Gallup has been asking about this issue consistently since his 1979.
“Most of the institutions evaluated this year are within three points of their record low trust scores, including four institutions that are at or tied to their record lows,” Gallup said. Said. Small businesses (65%) and the military (60%) are the only institutions with a positive rating from the majority of respondents.
