Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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A Puerto Rico bank chairman got 62 months for causing more than $23.6 million in losses at his own bank
Juan Francisco Ramirez, 60, of Miami, used the bank he chaired to fund his own investments, mortgages and credit card bills, and on Oct. 7 a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida sentenced him to 62 months in prison. Prosecutors say the scheme cost Nodus International Bank at least $23,613,371. Ramirez, the former…
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Aetna’s chronic-condition Medicare plans can disenroll members whose condition a provider does not verify, as Aetna adds those plans in six more states for 2027
Aetna plans to sell Medicare Advantage drug plans in 41 states plus Washington, D.C. for 2027, reaching 57 million Medicare-eligible people, and to bring its chronic-condition special needs plans to six more states, for 25 in all. The same announcement carries a condition for people who join one of those chronic-condition plans: if Aetna does…
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Medicare’s $90 deposits due today come from a fund Congress has tapped about 20 times, including $20.7 billion in 2010
The money behind Thursday’s $90 Medicare deposits comes from a fund Congress created in 2008 and has dipped into around 20 times since. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says most of the roughly 20.8 million people getting the one-time rebate will see a direct deposit on or around October 8, which is today.…
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Medicare Advantage shoppers will have 28 drug plans to choose from on average for 2027, down from 32, and Texans lose nine options, KFF says
The average person on Medicare can choose from 28 Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage for 2027, down from 32 in 2026. Texas takes the biggest cut of any state, with the average Texas beneficiary losing nine of those plans, according to a KFF analysis published Oct. 1. KFF researchers Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Meredith…
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Senators gave State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Farmers, Liberty Mutual and American Family until Oct. 16 to explain claims closed without payment, citing over 44 percent of 2025 home claims at the five largest home insurers
Two senators have given six of the country’s biggest insurers until Oct. 16 to explain why a growing share of home and auto claims ends without a payment to the policyholder. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent the letters Oct. 2 to State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Farmers, Liberty Mutual and American Family.…
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Players of myVEGAS, Pop! Slots and other Playstudios games in six states get game coins, not cash, from a settlement unless they file an election form by Oct. 21
Anyone who spent money on myVEGAS, Pop! Slots or another Playstudios game in one of six states is covered by a class settlement that pays in game coins unless the player files an election form by October 21. The choice is spelled out on the settlement website, which says players who do nothing “will receive…
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About 2.76 million living military-affiliated people had Social Security numbers exposed in a Pentagon personnel-records breach, and 12 months of free credit monitoring is offered
Letters dated September 18 are telling millions of people with ties to the U.S. military that unauthorized users got into a Pentagon personnel system and reached files holding their Social Security numbers. About 2.76 million living people are affected, along with roughly 294,000 who have died, according to FEDweek’s report on the notices. Affiliate links…
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Trump’s Oct. 5 diesel order gave Treasury five days to decide whether federal diesel excise taxes from Oct. 5 to Dec. 31 can be deferred without penalties or interest
President Trump signed an executive order Oct. 5 that gives the Treasury Secretary five days to decide whether the government can let businesses put off federal diesel excise taxes for the rest of 2026. As of Oct. 8, neither the IRS nor Treasury has announced that decision. The five days in the order run out…
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Nebraska wants to bar candy from food stamp purchases starting March 1, 2027 and soda from Dec. 1 under a request USDA has not approved, with comments due Nov. 2
Soda would come off the SNAP shopping list in Nebraska on Dec. 1 and candy on March 1, 2027, if the U.S. Department of Agriculture says yes to a request it has not yet decided. A Federal Register notice published Oct. 2 asks for public comment, and “written comments must be received on or before…
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Spouses who claim Social Security at 62 take a bigger cut than workers do, turning a $500 spousal benefit into $325 for people born in 1960 or later
Two people born in 1960 can start Social Security at 62 and take different hits: 30% off the worker’s check and 35% off the spouse’s. SSA’s age-reduction table shows the spouse’s side of that gap. A spousal benefit that would be $500 at full retirement age becomes $325 at 62 for anyone born in 1960…