Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Humana holds 20 percent of Medicare Advantage members but collects 11 percent of the bonus money
Humana is the second-largest company selling Medicare Advantage plans, covering about one in five of the program’s enrollees nationwide. That kind of footprint would normally translate into a proportional cut of the extra federal dollars Medicare hands out each year to reward higher-quality plans. In 2026, it has not worked out that way. Humana holds…
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Seniors without obesity-drug coverage have paid $50 a month since July, and 500,000 of them saved $216 million
Millions of older Americans who take GLP-1 medications for obesity are now paying a flat $50 a month for the drugs, under a Medicare demonstration that started July 1, 2026. The Trump administration says the program has already produced a nine-figure savings total for seniors who previously had no coverage for these medicines, some of…
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Food stamps for a person living alone rise to $306 a month on October 1, and the income cutoff moves to $1,330
Every October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture resets how much a household on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can receive, and 2026 is no exception. Starting October 1, the maximum monthly SNAP benefit for someone living alone rises to $306, and the net income test that decides who can even apply for it climbs to…
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A court froze a credit repair operation the FTC says took nearly $200 million
A federal judge in Arizona has temporarily shut down a credit repair operation that, according to the Federal Trade Commission, pulled in nearly $200 million by posing as debt collectors and creditors. The FTC says the operation, built around a company called Credit Glory, used paid search ads to reach people already worried about a…
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Tesla is recalling 20,349 cars for headlights that are too bright, and there is no fix yet
Tesla has told federal safety regulators it is recalling 20,349 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles because their low-beam headlights shine brighter than federal law allows, and the company does not yet have a repair ready to offer. For anyone driving one of the affected cars, or facing its headlights from the other lane at…
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Walmart is recalling 165,250 dressers a second time because liquidators kept selling the recalled ones
Mainstays nine-drawer fabric dressers sold at Walmart are back under a federal recall notice — about 165,250 of them — and the complaint this time isn’t about a defect in the furniture. It’s about what happened after the first recall: the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says liquidation companies kept selling drawers that Walmart had…
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FedEx, UPS and DHL are refunding tariff charges to customers while Target keeps its $994 million
FedEx, UPS and DHL have each told customers they will pass along tariff refunds once the federal government pays the carriers back. Target just banked $994 million from that same refund pool and is not cutting checks to shoppers with it. Both are legal, and both trace back to the same February court ruling —…
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The wrong ATM now costs $4.86 on average, a record, and $5.37 in Atlanta
Pulling cash from an ATM that doesn’t belong to your own bank has never cost more. The average combined fee for an out-of-network withdrawal climbed to $4.86 in Bankrate’s latest annual study, and in several major cities it now tops $5 a swipe. For anyone who still keeps cash on hand for tips, a rent…
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The $5 overdraft cap never took effect, and the average overdraft fee is $26.77
A rule finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in December 2024 would have capped most bank overdraft fees at $5. It never took effect. Congress killed it in the spring of 2025, and the fee data collected since then shows exactly what that repeal costs the typical account holder: the average overdraft fee now…
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A House bill would cut consumer bureau supervision to banks above $30 billion, up from $10 billion
A group of House Republicans introduced a bill this week that would redraw the line determining which banks answer directly to the federal government’s consumer watchdog. Right now, banks with more than $10 billion in assets are examined directly by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for how they handle overdraft fees, credit card terms and…
