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Medicare For All, Single-Payer Will Be Discussed At NAHU Conference

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The Trump administration made the Affordable Care Act one of its biggest targets.

Nearly 700 health insurance and benefits advisors from across the nation will travel to Washington to meet with members of Congress. In addition, NAHU members will hear from industry experts, members of Congress and members of the Trump administration as they look at the future for health care reform.

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Congress has a lot of its plate, but financial services would like to see a retirement income security bill get passed before the end of the year.

With control of Congress divided between Democrats and Republicans, the efforts to reform health care will shift to the states over the next two years, a panel of consultants said.

The positive and negative aspects of the Trump presidency on insurance and financial planning.

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Though the national political focus has largely turned to the 2020 presidential campaign, three Southern states will see hard-fought governors’ races this year, with Democrats trying to show they can compete in prime Donald Trump territory. Democrats are vying to unseat Kentucky’s Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and pick up an open governorship in Mississippi. In Louisiana, they’re working to re-elect John Bel Edwards, the lone Democratic governor in the Deep South.

Will the US and China enter a long-term technological arms race? “The likelihood that the US and China will make some progress in the ongoing trade talks has increased as a result of mounting domestic pressure in both economies,” said Cailin Birch, Global Economist at The EIU.“ Nonetheless, we do not expect a meaningful agreement, as the US and China enter into a…

While past presidents have circumvented Congress on things Capitol Hill had thought it had blocked, have redirected money Congress appropriated, and triggered the same National Emergencies Act Mr. Trump is using as justification to build part of his border wall, none have produced the firestorm that surrounds last week’s announcement.
New home sales are continuing to slide. Sign of a slowing economy?

Existing-home sales experienced a minor drop for the third consecutive month in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says last month’s home sales of 4.94 million were the lowest since November 2015, but that he does not expect the numbers to decline further going forward.
The Trump administration made the Affordable Care Act one of its biggest targets.

The government growth is driven by traditional Medicare, which is experiencing a surge in enrollment as aging baby boomers shift out of private coverage, according to the analysis from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The report projected that U.S. health care spending will surpass $5.9 trillion by 2027.

Yes, Congress is aware the national debt recently surpassed $22 trillion for the first time in U.S. history. “I don’t see at this point a lot of appetite for cutting spending,” said House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, Kentucky Democrat. President Trump likewise has ruled out major cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security— the key…
Democrats are struggling to counter the charge that they want the government to run health care.

Feb. 20– Democratic presidential hopefuls continue to move leftward on health care– and will have to figure out how to fend off GOP attempts to brand them as “socialism” if they want to get anywhere with it. “We’ve gone from Obamacare to Che Guevara- care,” GOP strategist Patrick Griffin said, referring to the Latin American Marxist revolutionary.

After her office sent the “FAQ” to NPR, The Washington Post and other news organizations, and posted a similar version on her congressional website, they were met with withering criticism- prompting Ocasio-Cortez to furiously backtrack, seeking to disown and discredit documents her office had produced, posted and distributed. Now she, and the Democrats who…

Elizabeth Warren, D- Massachusetts, issued the following news release:. United States Senator Elizabeth Warren today unveiled a proposal outlining the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act, a comprehensive plan to provide millions of families with free, high-quality child care and early learning options and to ensure that every family in the country…

It was supposed to be a rare area of bipartisanship, but Democrats and Republicans are now feuding over the best approach to implementing paid family leave. Key Democrats reintroduced their plan last week, calling for employers to provide 12 weeks of family leave for employees with a new child or who are dealing with personal health issues or health issues with…

Sherrod Brown took aim at Democratic presidential contenders who favor government insurance for all Americans, warning it would cause “angst and anguish” for millions of people to give up their health plans provided by their employers or purchased by themselves. During an interview Sunday on CNN’s State-of-the-Union, Brown, D- Ohio, attempted to separate…

President Donald Trump said Sunday “big progress” is being made in U.S. trade talks with China on what he calls “so many different fronts.” But a China trade expert who served in the Obama administration says he has only seen “incremental progress” toward a trade deal with China. Moon believes negotiators on both sides are failing to address the real reason the U.S….

U.S. industrial production fell 0.6 percent in January, a decline caused in large part by an 8.8 percent plunge in the making of motor vehicles and auto parts. The Federal Reserve says that that the manufacturing component of the index dropped 0.9 percent last month, reversing a 0.8 percent gain in December. Over the past 12 months, factory production has increased just 2.9 percent. Manufacturing of wood products, computers, electrical equipment, apparel and chemicals also fell in January.

Trump will also declare a national emergency, allowing him to bypass Congress and build the wall. It also explicitly prohibits a concrete wall, and includes a number of concessions to Democrats, such as amnesty for illegal immigrants in the US with unaccompanied minors, a ban on wall construction in several national parks, and no funding for hiring more…
Democrats are tacking left on social issues. Will voters follow?

Captivated by a handful of liberal superstars, Democrats are venturing where the party has long feared to tread: Steep taxes on the rich. Abolishing an immigration enforcement agency. And proposing a sweeping Green New Deal that calls for an “economic transformation” to combat climate change.

The Census Bureau report said the drop was comparable to September 2009, a few months into the Great Recession. “Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2018… were $505.8 billion, a decrease of 1.2 percent… but 2.3 percent above December 2017,” the report said. Strong job gains, wage growth, and the drop in gasoline sales should be very…

Using current Census Bureau data, two researchers now predict that the nation’s population will be transformed in the future— and immigration is the catalyst. “Net immigration will add 75 million to the population, accounting for 95 percent of the increase by 2060. Despite such transformative growth, this high level of immigration will do little to increase the…
The federal debt hit $22 trillion recently. Is that anything to worry about?

Piles of federal debt have been growing ever higher for years, fueled by accumulating annual deficits, which themselves have been driven by tax cuts, government spending increases and the mounting costs of Medicare and Social Security and interest on the debt itself. So what does it all mean for the economy?

Pat Toomey, R- Pennsylvania, issued the following news release:. U.S. Senator Pat Toomey is defending property rights, a growing economy, and middle-class Americans from a recent proposal by Senators Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer that would severely restrict the ability of American companies to buy back their own stock. In a speech on the Senate floor, Senator…

The committee met three times to discuss the bills needed to placate Republicans, Democrats and President Donald Trump, who so far has refused any bill that doesn’t include $5.7 billion toward a wall on the southern border. Lawmakers wouldn’t discuss the details publicly but sources told NBC News, The Hill and CNN the bill includes $1.375 billion for physical…

We’re used to Republican members of Congress popping up from their chairs and dutifully applauding President Donald Trump- and to Democrats, with rare exceptions, sitting glumly. The women- many of them newcomers to Congress- perked up. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi beamed.

Feb. 10– LAWRENCE– Taking many shots at the rich and powerful, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren chose the starting place of the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike to launch her presidential campaign on a bright but frigid Saturday morning. “The middle-class squeeze is real, and millions of families can barely breathe.

Feb. 08– Trump emphasized the strong economic improvement achieved on his watch. The U.S. economy, he noted, “is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office. But you wouldn’t know it from the Democratic response to Trump’s speech, given by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is taking his call for social justice to Iowa, where he plans to visit with African-American leaders on his first trip to the early 2020 caucus state as a Democratic presidential candidate. Booker is using rhetoric reminiscent of the civil rights movement to distinguish himself early in the 2020 race. And although Iowa is a vastly white state, the sentiment echoes within the state’s Democratic base. Booker’s two-day trip begins Friday.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, released Thursday the much-anticipated Green New Deal resolution, outlining a sweeping overhaul of the economy and energy sector laden with ambitious social-justice goals. Ed Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, introduced non-binding resolutions in the House and Senate calling for a “10- year national…

Feb. 07– WASHINGTON– President Trump continues to have a blunt message for upstate New York residents who are worried about the region’s economy: Get out. “If New York isn’t gonna treat them better, I would recommend they go to another state where they can get a great job,” Trump said Wednesday. Trump portrayed New York residents as victims of their state government.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in November as imports fell faster than exports. The Commerce Department says the gap between what the United States sells and what it buys from other countries dropped to $49.3 billion November from a revised $55.7 billion in October.

Feb. 06– Here are a few responses from around the country to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night:. Bob Casey Jr., via Twitter. Ed Markey, D- Mass., via Twitter.

President Donald Trump plans to nominate David Malpass, a Trump administration critic of the World Bank, to lead the institution. That’s according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly on personnel decisions. Malpass, the undersecretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department, has been a sharp critic of the World Bank, especially over its lending to China.

Feb. 05– Gov. Cuomo trashed President Trump on Monday for burdening the state with a regressive tax cut he said is designed to punish New Yorkers for being Democrats. Cuomo, at an Albany news conference, said the President’s plan is to blame for $2.3 billion in lost tax revenue that occurred after wealthy residents left New York for second homes in Florida and other…
President Donald Trump will talk about a strong economy during his State of the Union address.

President Donald Trump will enjoy the backdrop of a mostly solid economy as he delivers his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, though questions about its sustainability linger. Trump will likely tout the latest signs of strength: Friday’s jobs report showed that employers added the most jobs in January in nearly a year.
The Federal Reserve system symbol on hundred dollar bill.

The Federal Reserve decided not to raise interest rates despite declining consumer confidence and a sharply volatile stock market. After nearly a year or so of watching stocks rise and fall on Wall Street with dizzying repetition, the central bank voted, without dissent, to hold its rate between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent.

For many years the Republican Party has had pretty much one economic message: Cut taxes. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D- N.Y., is promoting a recently unveiled plan to tax income over $10 million at 70 percent, twice the current top rate. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is pitching a new wealth tax of 2 percent…
A roofer works on a house foundation framing in Irving, Texas.

U.S. employers shrugged off last month’s partial government shutdown and engaged in a burst of hiring in January, adding 304,000 jobs, the most in nearly a year. The robust gain illustrates the job market’s durability nearly a decade into the economic expansion.

Among those bills— and reintroduced this week— is the Social Security 2100 Act, which would provide a modest increase in benefits for retired Americans, but should also secure Social Security’s solvency for the next 75 years and beyond. John Larson, D- Connecticut, now the chairman of the House Social Security subcommittee. Some proposals to fix Social Security…
Senators on the left and right are leery of another government shutdown.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is proposing legislation to eliminate the estate tax. Called the For the 99.8% Act, it would raise $2.2 trillion from the nation’s 588 billionaires. The proposal comes two days after Senate Republican leadership proposed a bill to repeal the estate tax.

U.S. Lawmakers Try to Limit Trump’s Power. On Wednesday U.S. policymakers moved to pass legislation that would limit the president’s power to introduce import taxes for reasons of national security. The suggested legislation comes on the heels of increased concerns that President Trump’s trade policies will have a high cost for U.S. businesses and the U.S….
The economy should remain in the positive for at least 2019, economists say.

In the short-term, the second half of 2020 should produce some optimism, but it will be 2021 “when you should feel good,” an economist says. In the long-term view, inflation in health care spending and a Social Security system under greater financial stress make 2030 look bad.

-Chairman Scott, Senator Reed introduce Rebuild America’s Schools Act. Today, Congressman Donald Norcross, Senator Jack Reed, and Congressman Bobby Scott, chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, led House and Senate Democrats in introducing a proposal to invest more than $100 billion in America’s public schools. The Rebuild America’s Schools Act would…
The Federal Reserve system symbol on hundred dollar bill.

The Fed held its benchmark rate at a range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent at its January meeting, after having hiked rates four times in 2018 — decisions that drew harsh criticism from the president. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that he would need to see a jump in inflation in order to raise a benchmark interest rate.

Schultz had earlier stepped aside as the chief executive of Starbucks Corp., but with the company in a deep slump, he decided to retake control, reinstalling himself as CEO. How he built Starbucks from a single store in Seattle. He also told me how important it is to him that Starbucks employees have access to health care, and that they participate in the success of…

Jan. 30– the taxes they pay as a percent of their profits–has been cut in half to an all-time low but hasn’ t unleashed more investment, at least not yet. The Trump administration was willing to give Democrats more dollars for a range of social programs in exchange for more dollars for defense. There were a few faint calls for restraint and reforms, particularly to the…

Unfortunately, this sad episode is a warning sign of equally difficult circumstances ahead in the new Congress. As the staff director of the Senate Budget Committee during the 1995-96 government shutdown— the longest, prior to this one— I remember only too well how it ended: Republicans gave in to President Bill Clinton and abandoned their goal of enacting a plan…

President Trump types a tweet or makes an off-the-cuff remark to reporters about the Federal Reserve or China trade talks, and the Big Board starts moving. Unlike his White House predecessors who saw danger in tying their presidency to the unpredictable stock market, Mr. Trump has made it the measure of his success. Whether it was the president’s tweets adding…
A roofer works on a house foundation framing in Irving, Texas.

Although the next couple years are expected to fall short of the 3 percent annual growth goal set by the Trump administration, the current economic expansion is the longest in history. And growth will remain positive at least for the foreseeable future, a Nationwide economist said.

The public continues to give President Donald Trump his best ratings on the economy, but a poll finds the share who approve of how he’s handling that issue has slipped since last fall. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Trump also sees tepid support over his handling of immigration and border security. The poll finds 34 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, compared with 65 percent who disapprove.

Mike Rounds, R- South Dakota, issued the following news release:. Mike Rounds today announced he cosponsored the Death Tax Repeal Act, reintroduced by Sen. Rounds cosponsored this legislation during the 114th and 115th Congresses.

Jan. 28– Former Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz is taking steps to mount an independent campaign for president, he announced Sunday. Schultz, in an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes,” said Donald Trump was “not qualified to be the president” but also blamed both Democrats and Republicans for “consistently not doing what’s necessary on behalf of…

Shares have fallen back from early gains in Asia as caution over looming trade talks between Washington and Beijing replaced relief over the end of the partial U.S. government shutdown. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6 percent Monday after the parliament reopened with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposing fresh stimulus measures to cushion the impact of a planned sales tax hike.

The U.S. economy seems to the growing at the slowest pace since the US President took office, which has raised fears from different quarters. The U.S. economy, meanwhile, seems to have slowed, though economists do not have as much data as usual because of the government shutdown. If we don’t have recession this year, the odds are high that we’ll have one in the next few…

Elizabeth Warren has proposed a new plan to tax the uber- rich– formalizing her longstanding rhetoric in the wake of a competing plan by the latest headline-grabbing Democratic darling, U.S. Rep. Her proposal comes as the party drifts leftward, just weeks after Ocasio-Cortez– who has become a popular figure for the left-leaning Democrats, a status once held by…

Help wanted signs outside companies from Lancaster manufacturer PCB Piezotronics and Valu Home Center hardware stores to discount grocer Aldi and local fast food chain Mighty Taco. You see it on billboards, where companies like Moog Inc. and Servotronics Inc. are touting their openings. And even in radio ads from companies like auto insurer GEICO.

The White House’s top economist on Wednesday said the economy could completely stall in the first three months of 2019 if the government shutdown does not end, drawing a sharp contrast with the rosy economic picture President Donald Trump has tried to paint.

Jan. 23– Lara Trump, the wife of the president’s second son, Eric, was blasted on social media for telling federal workers in an interview that they should feel good about the “sacrifice” they are making by not getting paid during the government shutdown. Accusations poured in on Twitter that Lara Trump– who also is an adviser and spokeswoman for President Donald…

Guido Sandleris, president of the Central Bank of Argentina, says the country is “much better prepared” for the challenge of a slowdown in trade and rising global interest rates. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Sandleris said Argentina had previously not been strong enough to cope with those challenges amid its high inflation and big fiscal and trade deficits.

Harris was the fourth woman in a matter of weeks to announce her candidacy for president in 2020, joining her Senate colleagues Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, also is in the mix. From the private sector, Andrew Yang, a New York…

A weekend offer that President Donald Trump calls a compromise doesn’t appear to be on track to ending the partial government shutdown. Democrats haven’t changed their initial rejection of the offer. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner says negotiations should start with reopening the government. On Saturday, Trump offered to temporarily extend protections for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children and those fleeing disaster zones in exchange for $5.7 billion for his border wall.