Author: Brian Lund
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Propane tanks and fire extinguishers would join the metal tariffs at rates up to 50 percent
A federal proposal that started as a national-security measure on raw steel, aluminum and copper is now reaching into ordinary hardware-store shelves. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security published a notice on August 6 proposing to add 14 new categories of everyday metal goods — including propane cylinders, fire extinguishers, electric conductor cable…
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The IRS set 2027 health savings account limits at $4,500 and $9,000
People saving in a health savings account already know a number that most other taxpayers won’t see for months: what 2027 looks like. The IRS has set next year’s HSA contribution limits at $4,500 for someone with self-only coverage and $9,000 for a family, according to the revenue procedure the agency published this year. It’s…
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Online sellers get an IRS 1099-K only above $20,000 and 200 transactions
Someone who sold roughly $8,000 of secondhand furniture and thrifted finds through Facebook Marketplace and eBay this year likely will not see a Form 1099-K from either platform — and under the rule now in effect, they are not supposed to. The IRS’s own guidance confirms that a 2025 federal law retroactively restored the reporting…
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The IRS says overtime left off box 12 of a W-2 cannot be deducted
A worker who put in overtime hours in 2026 and finds nothing listed in box 12 of their W-2 under code TT is not looking at a paperwork oversight the IRS will quietly fix later. Updated guidance the agency issued in August closes out a one-year grace period that let some 2025 filers claim the…
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The VA says 250,000 veterans enrolled in its health system this year
The Department of Veterans Affairs says its healthcare rolls grew by a specific, sizable number this year: more than 250,000 new enrollees since January, with the pace still building as the year goes on. That figure came from a VA press release published the same day this article was researched, making it the freshest single…
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A new Medicaid fraud unit blocked $203.3 million in payments in its first 88 days
A federal-state task force spent the spring and summer chasing a narrow but expensive target: Medicaid providers billing for care that was inflated, unnecessary, or never delivered at all. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says that effort, run through something it calls the Medicaid Fraud War Room, stopped more than $203.3 million in…
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New Mexico and West Virginia added yearly windows for Medicare enrollees to change supplement plans
Medicare Supplement, or Medigap, policies have a well-known catch: once you are past your one-time federal enrollment window, an insurer can normally deny you coverage or charge more based on your health. Two states pushed back on that rule this year, in different ways. New Mexico and West Virginia both now give existing Medigap holders…
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Cooley Dickinson’s primary care leaves a Medicare Advantage network October 1, affecting 2,500 members
About 2,500 people are getting a letter this fall that puts a number on a change most of them didn’t ask for: their Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Advantage plan will no longer cover their regular doctor’s visits at Cooley Dickinson starting October 1. What they do have is a 90-day window to sort it…
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A North Carolina hospital’s UnitedHealthcare extension expires December 31, in the middle of Medicare’s enrollment window
Open enrollment for 2027 Medicare coverage closes December 7. A contract at one Coastal Carolina hospital closes 24 days after that. For Medicare Advantage members near New Bern, North Carolina, that gap between two calendar dates is the whole story: the deadline everyone is told to watch isn’t the one that actually decides whether their…
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A California fund manager took $80 million from 190 investors, many of them retired
Two former executives at a Marin County real estate lending firm are accused of running one of the larger alleged Ponzi-like schemes of the year, and most of the people who put money in were already retired. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges on September 1 against Mark D. Hanf, former CEO of Pacific…
