Reuters  (13.12.2018) Is it time to raise the Social Security retirement age? The idea crops up often as a partial fix for the long-term financial challenges facing the program.  A higher retirement age would reduce the number of years on average that people receive benefits, as a way to cut program costs. But according to an economist at the Urban Institute who specializes in employment and retirement decisions made by older Americans, raising the retirement age would inflict serious harm on roughly one-quarter of Social Security beneficiaries.

medicalxpress (11.12..2018) Workplace exposure to metals and pesticides is linked to a heightened risk of heart disease in Hispanic and Latino workers, reveals research published online in the journal Heart.   Language barriers and low levels of education, coupled with fears about job security and immigration status, may make this rapidly growing ethnic group especially vulnerable, say the researchers.

Newsday (08.12.2018) Regional health systems are expanding what they predict will be the next frontier in treatment: telemedicine, a form of remote care where doctors interact with patients via a phone, tablet or other devices with a camera. Remote visits can range from having a physician check a sore throat with a flashlight on a patient's smartphone, to routine post-operation checkups, where a doctor directs a subject to push parts of their body and asks for feedback on pain levels. 

 Healthcare Informatics (21.11.2018) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made strides in providing more affordable, accessible care for all patients. A new rule allowing Medicare Advantage beneficiaries to access telehealth from home was recently proposed. CMS also released its CY 2019 Physician Fee Schedule final rule, which includes reimbursement for telehealth and virtual care services.

WHNT.com (22.10.2018) Social security beneficiaries will be getting an increase in benefits next year, but for many retirees, it won't balance out other cost increases. The 2019 increase is the largest increase for retirees since 2012.

CNBC (14.08.2018) According to new research from Charles Schwab, which surveyed 2,000 young Americans aged 16 to 25, a resounding 76 percent think they'll have a better financial future than their parents. And they expect to retire, on average, at age 60. That's "seven years earlier than full Social Security benefit eligibility for their age bracket," the report notes.

marketwatch.com (04.08.2018) The company, called Trupo, is launching a new short-term disability insurance product. A broken leg can spell financial disaster for a freelancer.

By SARA HOROWITZ APR 18, 2017 

For the 55 million Americans who make their living as freelance workers, tax day is more than just a headache. It's an annual fleecing. Freelancers now constitute a third of the American workforce, and over the past decade, 94% of new jobs added to the U.S. economy were created in the so-called gig economy. Yet freelancers must retrofit themselves into an archaic system designed for the industrial era, one that taxes independent workers disproportionately even as they benefit less from the social safety net.

MarketWatch (04.07.2018) Today, male college graduates retire about three years later than high school graduates. While the story is more complicated for women, because of the dramatic change in their labor-force participation rates over the latter half of the 20th century, the pattern is similar.

 The New York Times (20.06.2018) The plan, which will most likely face significant opposition in Congress from Democrats and some Republicans, includes relocating many social safety net programs into a new megadepartment