On March 18, President Joe Biden signed "Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation," an executive order administration officials declared marks a significant milestone in prioritizing women's health on the national agenda. The White House exclaimed that the executive order underscored the urgent need to bridge existing gaps in biomedical…
The latest from Washington, D.C., impacting the insurance and financial services industries.
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Congress unlikely to take up health care, retirement issues this year
However, some bipartisan health care reforms could come before Congress at the end of 2024.
House Republicans released a new budget proposal that would raise the Social Security retirement age, restructure Medicare, ban abortion and threaten fertility treatments. On Social Security, the RSC budget plan proposes "modest adjustments to the retirement age for future retirees to account for increases in life expectancy," but does not specify what that…
Commentary: Another view of Biden’s prescription drug cost initiative
Prescription drugs must be made more affordable but there are unintended implications of enforcing government price setting.
A committee of Federal Reserve officials voted Wednesday to keep interest rates at a 22- year high after unexpectedly high job gains and inflation delayed plans for possible rate cuts. The Federal Open Market Committee, the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting borrowing costs, voted to keep its baseline interest rate at the range of 5.25 to 5.5…
The CBO further projected that the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be exhausted in 2033, the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund in 2035, and the Highway Trust Fund in 2028.. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the new report should serve as a wake-up call for Congress.
WASHINGTON– Federal Reserve officials signaled Wednesday that they still expect to cut their key interest rate three times in 2024, fueling a rally on Wall Street, despite signs that inflation remained elevated at the start of the year. Speaking at a news conference, Chair Jerome Powell said the surprising pickup in inflation in January and February hadn't…
—Two weeks ago, Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the Federal Reserve was“ not far” from gaining the confidence it needed that inflation was headed sustainably toward its 2% target level, which would allow it to start cutting its benchmark interest rate. It was a tantalizing suggestion, because a cut in the Fed's key rate has typically boosted the economy by…
Investors are optimistic despite looming election anxiety
A survey of CFP professionals found that American investors are overwhelmingly optimistic, with 6 in 7 CFP professionals reporting that their clients have a positive outlook for 2024 despite ongoing economic uncertainty.
President Biden, whose spending policies have been blamed for skyrocketing mortgage rates, is seeking ways to cut costs for homebuyers by trimming fees associated with loans and eliminating title insurance for some borrowers. The Federal Reserve has raised rates several times during the Biden administration to help stabilize near-record inflation.
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep its key lending rate unchanged again on Wednesday, as policymakers continue discussions over when to start rate cuts and launch the next phase in their long-running battle against inflation. The Fed has raised interest rates to a 23- year high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent as it looks to return inflation…
President Joe Biden said Thursday he is against the proposed sale of US Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel, as election year considerations appeared to outweigh the risk of angering key ally Japan. Biden's intervention in the planned $14.1 billion acquisition comes less than a month before he hosts Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state visit to the…
No Surprises Act results in more disputes than expected
More than two years after No Surprises was enacted, 10 million consumer health claims were protected from unexpected bills. But the independent dispute resolution process is being used more than expected, and eligibility disputes are complex.
President Biden's reelection campaign launched an effort in battleground states this week to hit former President Trump over his threats to Social Security and Medicare, the campaign first told The Hill. The events will take place in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Milwaukee; Madison, Wisc.; Lansing, Mich.; Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Recently released government data hammered home what we have known for at least a year: A national housing shortage, not broad-based price increases, is driving inflation. Inflation over the past year was 3.1%– far less than in 2021 but still high enough for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates elevated. However, unlike the inflation we saw soon after the…
WASHINGTON— Consumer prices in the United States picked up last month, a sign that inflation remains a persistent challenge for the Federal Reserve and for President Joe Biden’ s re-election campaign, both of which are counting on a steady easing of price pressures this year. Prices rose 0.4% from January to February, higher than the previous month’ s figure of…
—Consumer prices likely rose last month at a pace that would exceed the Federal Reserve's inflation target, underscoring why the Fed is being cautious as it considers when to cut interest rates and suggesting that inflation will remain a potent issue in this year's presidential election. Yet Tuesday's report from the Labor Department may also show that…
—President Joe Biden is issuing a budget plan Monday aimed at getting voters' attention: tax breaks for families, lower health care costs, smaller deficits and higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Unlikely to pass the House and Senate to become law, the proposal for fiscal 2025 is an election-year blueprint about what the future could hold if Biden and…
WASHINGTON– A sweeping bank regulatory proposal will be significantly revised by year's end, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, a potential victory for the large banks that have aggressively opposed the likely changes. The NAACP and some other civil rights groups have expressed opposition out of concern that the proposal would make it…
WASHINGTON— Chairman Jerome Powell reinforced his belief Wednesday that the Federal Reserve will cut its key interest rate this year but said it first wants to see more evidence that inflation is falling sustainably back to the Fed's 2% target. His comments to a House committee largely echoed those he made at a news conference Jan. 31. On the first of his two days…
