shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

UPI: Taxpayers Pay Billions For Uninsured's Health Care

"U.S. taxpayers pay $45 billion a year for Medicaid, children's health insurance and unpaid healthcare for full-time workers and their families," according to the Commonwealth Fund. Research conducted on their behalf by researchers at Columbia University "found federal, state and local governments pay $33 billion a year for public coverage such as Medicaid and [SCHIP] for full-time workers and family and $12 billion in uncompensated care expenses." The article concludes, "The cost borne by the public for full-time workers not covered by their own employers is largely a result of fewer workers and worker family members obtaining health insurance coverage through their employers -- even among those employed by firms with more than 100 employees."

USA Today: Job Loss Numbers Said To Indicate Stumbing Economy

According to Friday's report from the Labor Department, US employers "shed 20,000 jobs in April, while wages stalled, leaving Americans struggling to keep up with rising energy and food costs. ... The nation's unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, dipped to 5% in April from 5.1% in March. The employment picture was less brutal that the 75,000 job loss economists had predicted, still, it reflects a badly stumbling economy." USA Today adds, "There are now 7.6 million Americans out of work, compared with 6.8 million a year ago. The jobless rate is highest for teenagers at 15.4%, African-Americans at 8.6% and Hispanics at 6.9%."

AP: Fed Announces Crackdown On Credit Card Industry

The AP reported that the proposal "would be the biggest clampdown on the industry in decades. ... Lawmakers who have demanded tougher controls on the credit card industry were generally positive about the proposed rules, as were consumer groups. But some questioned whether the changes would be strong enough and soon enough to help the millions of households struggling with credit card debt."