Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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AT&T is charging $10 more a line on retired unlimited plans, showing up on August bills
AT&T customers who never switched off an older unlimited plan are seeing a new line item on their bill this month. The change, spelled out on AT&T’s own support site, adds a flat monthly charge to a set of retired wireless plans, with the amount depending on how many lines share the account. Customers who…
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Dental prices fell in August while hospital and prescription prices did not move at all
Dental care got cheaper in August while the price of a hospital stay, a doctor’s visit, or a prescription barely moved at all, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index. The overall medical care index fell 0.2 percent for the month — a rare monthly decline — even though medical costs…
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Used cars cost 2.3 percent less than a year ago even after two months of increases
Used car prices rose for a second straight month in August, but they are still cheaper than they were a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index. The used vehicle index climbed 0.4 percent in July and another 0.4 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, yet remains 2.3 percent below…
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Grocery shoppers are paying 3.7 percent more for coffee and soda, the fastest-rising food category
Grocery shoppers paid the most extra for coffee and soda this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index, even as the overall grocery bill barely moved in August. Nonalcoholic beverages — the category that covers coffee, soda, and juice — rose 3.7 percent over the twelve months ending in August,…
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EIA expects gasoline to average $3.35 next year, about 49 cents below this year
Gas prices are set to fall further in 2027 than they have in years, according to the government’s own numbers — but only after a run-up this year that is still working its way through household budgets. The Energy Information Administration’s September Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts the retail price of gasoline at $3.35 a gallon…
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EIA projects the average household will pay 18.6 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2027, up from 16.5 in 2024
The federal government’s main energy forecaster expects the average U.S. household’s electricity rate to keep climbing over the next two years, even as the pace of the increase slows from where it has been. The Energy Information Administration’s September Short-Term Energy Outlook puts the residential price at 18.6 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2027, up from…
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Fuel oil prices rose 10.1 percent in August alone, with the heating season weeks away
Fuel oil prices jumped 10.1 percent in a single month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month in its latest Consumer Price Index summary, just as the households that heat with it start thinking about their first delivery of the season. Fuel oil is a small line in most family budgets nationally, but…
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Lee Health says its UnitedHealthcare split does not touch AARP Medigap patients
Patients covered by Lee Health in southwest Florida got an insurance notice this month that reads differently depending on which UnitedHealthcare product sits in their wallet. Lee Health is ending its hospital and physician contracts with UnitedHealthcare, a split that will push several plan types out of network starting January 1, 2027. But Lee Health’s…
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Drug makers have signed 26 deals covering nearly 90 percent of the branded drug market
The White House says the federal government has locked in agreements with drug manufacturers covering nearly all of the brand-name medications Americans buy, a milestone that has been building for more than a year under a single presidential order aimed at drug prices. As of August 31, 2026, the administration had reached 26 deals with…
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The government will match retirement savings for low and moderate earners starting in 2027
Millions of lower- and moderate-income workers are due a new, direct boost to their retirement savings starting with tax year 2027 — not a tax break that only helps if a return owes money, but cash the government deposits straight into the account. The Treasury Department and the IRS confirmed on August 7, 2026 that…