Most Americans say their finances are not better off since Joe Biden took office
A majority of Americans say they are not better off financially than they were a year ago, according to a new poll. Gallup released the polling data Thursday showing that only 41% of Americans say they are financially better off than they were a year ago when President Joe Biden took office. “That is up slightly from 35% in January 2021 but still well below the record-high 59% reporting they were better off in January 2020, right before the start of the coronavirus pandemic,” Gallup said. The poll also found the same percentage of Americans, 41%, say they are worse off financially with the rest remaining the same. Last year, only 36% of Americans said they were worse off financially. “Americans’ pandemic-era doubts that they are advancing financially contrast with the prior six years, from 2015 to 2020, when significantly more said they were better rather than worse off,” Gallup said. “Today’s sentiment is similar to what Gallup found in 2013 and 2014, and in the early 2000s, when Americans were about evenly divided in these views.” Gallup conducted the poll from Jan. 3 through Jan. 16 and pointed to price increases due to inflation as a factor in Americans’ financial hardships. Gallup released polling last month showing that 79% of surveyed Americans “predict inflation will go up,” while 50% say it will go up “a lot.” According to Gallup, those are the most pessimistic surveys on inflation ever recorded by the pollster. “In the past, Americans have always been more likely to say inflation will increase rather than decrease, but the current expectation is higher than usual – in fact, it is the highest Gallup has measured in its trend,” Gallup said. “The prior high was 76% in September 2005. In recent years, from 2007 through 2020, roughly six in 10 Americans have expected inflation to increase.” That pessimism on inflation has been driven by months of rising inflation data. The personal consumer index, a key marker of inflation, saw a 5.8% increase in the previous 12 months, according to data released by the Department of Commerce last week. That increase is the highest in nearly 40 years, and other pricing markers suggest inflation could be even higher. “The PCE price index for December increased 5.8 percent from one year ago, reflecting increases in both goods and services…” the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. “Energy prices increased 29.9 percent while food prices increased 5.7 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index for December increased 4.9 percent from one year ago.” By Casey Harper | The Center Square Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Medicare opens up access to free at-home COVID-19 tests
The Biden administration, seeking to fill a frustrating gap in coverage for COVID-19 tests, Thursday announced that people with Medicare will be able to get free over-the-counter tests much more easily in the coming weeks. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Medicare will cover up to eight free tests per month, starting in early spring. The tests will be handed out at participating pharmacies and other locations. They’ll be available to people who have Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient benefit, which about 9 in 10 enrollees sign up for. Last month, the administration directed private insurers to cover up to eight at-home tests a month free of charge to people on their plans. Officials said at the time they were still trying to figure out what to do about Medicare, which covers more than 60 million people, most of them age 65 or older and more vulnerable to severe illness from coronavirus infection. Medicare benefits are governed by a host of arcane laws and regulations, and officials said Thursday they were able to arrange for coverage of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests by using the program’s legal authority to conduct demonstration programs on innovative ways to deliver health care. This is the first time Medicare has covered an over-the-counter test at no cost to recipients. People with Medicare Advantage, a private insurance option that covers about 4 in 10 Medicare enrollees, will also have access to free COVID-19 tests through their plans, officials said. Medicare Advantage plans can already cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests as a supplemental benefit. AARP praised Medicare’s decision and said it will closely follow the rollout. “The cost of paying for tests and the time needed to find free testing options are barriers that could discourage Medicare beneficiaries from getting tested, leading to greater social isolation and continued spread of the virus,” Nancy LeaMond, a vice-president of the advocacy group for older people, said in a statement. The new policy focuses on so-called rapid tests, which provide at-home results in about 15 minutes. Many families use the tests before getting together for special occasions or when grandparents travel from out of state to see grandkids they haven’t been able to play with for months due to COVID-19 isolation. Some testmakers pitch older adults directly in their marketing. Medicare also will continue to cover the more precise lab-based PCR tests at no cost, but those must be ordered by a clinician or an authorized health care professional. Before Thursday’s announcement, Medicare enrollees did have options for getting free at-home tests, and those will remain available while the new policy is going into effect. Those options include requesting four free tests for home delivery through covidtests.gov or picking free tests up from community locations such as libraries or senior centers that distribute them. At-home tests were in vexingly short supply at pharmacies as the omicron wave gained momentum in December, and some consumers find that’s still the case. However, an all-out drive by the White House to provide 500 million free tests and greatly expand production capacity is starting to show results, although they can vary by community and by pharmacy location. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Lawmakers advance bill on permitless carry
Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation to end the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-4 for the legislation. The bill now moves to the full Alabama Senate. House Republicans have named the bill a priority for the year, but the committee approval came over the objections of law enforcement officials who spoke against it. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Gerald Allen of Tuscaloosa, would end the requirement to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun although people could still get one if they choose. Rep. Shane Stringer, a Republican from Citronelle, has filed similar legislation in the House of Representatives. The proposal, as it has in past years, drew opposition from law enforcement officers during a public hearing Wednesday. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told the committee that the bill would take away a valuable tool for law enforcement officers to remove stolen weapons from the streets and to solve and prevent crimes. Edward Delmore, the chief of police for the Gulf Shores Police Department, said officers can now ask a person if they have a permit when they encounter a gun. Delmore said Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was initially arrested for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit after a trooper noticed the gun during a traffic stop. “If you pass this, that arrest would not have happened in the same situation here,” he said. Representatives from gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, urged lawmakers to advance the bill, arguing that 21 states allow concealed carry without a permit. They argued Alabama already allows open carry— meaning that a person can legally carry a non-concealed handgun — and that it doesn’t make sense to require a permit if the person puts on a jacket or gets in a car. “As an elected official who swore to uphold the constitutions of this state and country, I will always do everything in my power to preserve the rights of Alabamians, especially those granted by the Second Amendment,” Allen said in a statement, commenting on committee passage. Democrats on the committee voted against the legislation. “A life is a way more important than the inconvenience of somebody having to get a permit to carry a gun,” Democratic Sen. Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham said. The bill has been introduced for several years without success, but House Republicans have named the bill a priority for the year. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Ohio retailer to pay $5M in Alabama gender bias case
An Ohio-based retailer that was sued in Alabama for sexual discrimination will pay $5 million and provide job opportunities to women to settle the lawsuit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said. The federal agency announced the agreement in a statement Wednesday about American Freight Management Co. The company’s website shows it has more than 300 closeout stores nationwide in 40 states operating as American Freight Furniture and Mattress. The commission claimed in a lawsuit filed in 2019 that American Freight had a nationwide pattern of discriminating against women to work in its warehouse-style stores. Managers refused to hire women claiming they “can’t lift” or would be a “distraction” to men, a statement said, or that females don’t sell furniture as well as males. The money will go to compensate women who were wrongly denied work between 2013 and last year, court documents show. The company, based in Delaware, Ohio, also was barred from discriminating against any job applicant and from retaliating, the agency said. It must recruit women and offer sales and warehouse jobs to qualified applicants who previously were denied positions. The company did not immediately return an email message seeking comment Thursday. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
