Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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More than 270,000 veterans have signed up for VA health care this year
More than 270,000 veterans have newly enrolled in VA health care so far in 2026, according to a Sept. 22 tally from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency released the figure alongside a broader report on disability-claims processing, framing new enrollment as one part of a larger push to move more veterans into VA…
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Tariffs are now adding 0.2 to 0.4 point to core inflation, the Minneapolis Fed says
By July, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis had watched a relationship that was flat as recently as December turn decisively positive. Tariffs, economists Neil Mehrotra and Michael E. Waugh concluded, are now adding 0.2 to 0.4 percentage point to core inflation, an effect that was barely visible in the same regression eight months earlier.…
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A new compact car averaged $27,997 in August, about $22,000 below the typical new vehicle
Twenty-two thousand dollars separated the cheapest major segment of the new-vehicle market from the average buyer’s bill in August. A new compact car sold for $27,997 on average during the month, while the typical new vehicle sold for $50,089 — a gap of roughly $22,000 between the least expensive mainstream segment and the market as…
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The average new electric vehicle sold for $54,813 in August
For most of the past two years, buying electric meant paying a clear premium over a comparable gas-powered vehicle. That gap has been closing, and August’s transaction-price data shows how far. The average new EV sold for $54,813 during the month, down both from July and from a year earlier, even as the broader new-vehicle…
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Diesel in California now averages $8.25 a gallon, $3.26 more than a year ago
A gallon of diesel costs $1.717 more in California than it does across the country as a whole, and the gap has been widening for months. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey put California’s on-highway diesel average at $8.246 a gallon on September 21, compared with $6.529 nationally that same week. The state’s price…
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Chicago gas jumped 46 cents in one week to $4.88 a gallon
Drivers in Chicago paid an average of $4.879 a gallon for regular gasoline on September 21, up 45.9 cents from the week before. The increase, recorded in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey, was nearly three times the size of the gain posted for the country as a whole that same week. Gas in…
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Rural New Mexico gets $74 million for specialty, maternal and behavioral care from the Trump administration
New Mexico is receiving $74 million in federal money to expand specialty care, maternal health services and behavioral health treatment across its rural communities. The award draws on the Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year initiative built into last year’s tax law, and New Mexico is one of the states now drawing on its share.…
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A family of four earning up to $42,900 a year qualifies for free school meals through June
The federal government resets the income line for free and reduced-price school meals every spring, and this year’s update moves the free-meal ceiling for a household of four to $42,900 a year. That guideline governs school cafeterias nationwide from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. A family whose income falls at or under the…
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Health insurance agents will need a consumer’s electronic sign-off before acting on any 2027 marketplace application
Starting with the run-up to 2027 coverage, a health insurance agent or broker working through the federal marketplace will need a consumer’s electronic sign-off before taking any action on that person’s application or enrollment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services described the requirement as new, part of a wider set of changes meant to…
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The agency that runs Medicare froze new health insurance agent sign-ups for 2027 after sending more than 200 termination notices
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that also runs the health insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, has stopped registering new agents and brokers for the 2027 plan year unless they already hold an active 2026 Exchange Agreement. The freeze is temporary and applies to newcomers to the federal…