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Get ready to whip out your credit card before you are wheeled into the operating room or undergo an MRI. Hospitals are increasingly asking patients to pay for procedures either upfront or before they are discharged. That's because Americans are shouldering a greater portion of their health care bills, and medical centers don't want to get stuck with patients that can't pay. (snip) The policies available on the Affordable Care Act exchanges are hastening this trend. Many enrollees are opting for the bronze and silver plans, which often carry deductibles upwards of $5,000 and $2,000, respectively. "The bronze plans are...

Maryland officials on Wednesday lowered projections of state tax revenue for this year and next by a combined $405 million, blaming an economy that is still recovering at a more sluggish pace than expected. The action will require no immediate cuts in the state’s $16 billion general-fund budget, and Maryland remains in better fiscal health than most other states in the region, including Virginia, which announced a $2.4 billion shortfall in August. But some Maryland leaders warned that they could face more challenging budget choices ahead if job growth does not pick up. The largest revenue write-down Wednesday was for...

When you combine Variety's story about a 19% drop in entertainment industry jobs, and The Hollywood Reporter's story about the 2014 box office already being written off as a "disaster," things look pretty glum in the business of show. And probably for good reason. No one expected Summer 2014 to tank. No one. Everyone's saying "wait till next year," but this year there was a Spider-Man, some X-Men, a bunch of Apes, more Transformers, ..., this past Labor Day weekend was the worst since the post- 9/11 Labor Day weekend. No one knows why. No one can explain it. And...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but that probably does not signal a material shift in labor market conditions as claims remain near their pre-recession levels. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000 for the week ended Sept. 6, the highest level since late June, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 2,000 more applications received than previously reported.

High hopes for tax money isn’t as expected as the state’s legal marijuana industry isn’t bringing in as much money as anticipated. In fact, tax revenue is way below expectations. When voters approved recreational marijuana sales the state predicted it would pull in more than $33 million in new taxes in the first six months. The actual revenue came up more than $21 million short. The problem is that buying pot is less expensive on the streets where people don’t have to pay taxes or fees. Medical marijuana is also less expensive than recreational pot, so those with medical cards...

Islamic terrorist groups are operating in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez and planning to attack the United States with car bombs or other vehicle born improvised explosive devices (VBIED). High-level federal law enforcement, intelligence and other sources have confirmed to Judicial Watch that a warning bulletin for an imminent terrorist attack on the border has been issued. Agents across a number of Homeland Security, Justice and Defense agencies have all been placed on alert and instructed to aggressively work all possible leads and sources concerning this imminent terrorist threat. Specifically, Judicial Watch sources reveal that the militant group...

The merit of the federal government adopting use of Gross Output (GO) as a broadened quarterly measure of U.S. economic activity to supplement the traditional reliance on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shone when the Bureau of Economic Analysis recently published its first-quarter 2014 findings. The opportunity to compare the numbers shows that the economy may not have been as weak as the 2.1% shrinkage the GDP indicated in the first quarter when winter storms hit. Indeed, second-quarter real GDP rebounded to grow at a 4% annualized rate, affirming Gross Output’s useful role as a measure of economic activity because it...

The head of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans gave a hint of what might come soon to those who pay for health insurance coverage through MNsure, Minnesota's health care exchange. Julie Brunner is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, which is the professional association for the HMOs that offer health coverage through MNsure. Brunner recently told a University of Minnesota symposium that she would "not be surprised if the health plans increased their rates by 8, 10, or even 12 percent." Gov. Mark Dayton tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he would be disappointed by such a...

expected jump in food costs echoes the findings of a new informal survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation, which showed the average cost for a July 4th picnic for 10 is $58.72, 5.4 percent higher than last year. The survey is based on retail prices from 84 shoppers' findings in 26 states and Puerto Rico. Meat and dairy prices rose the most. The cost of ground round shot up 13.4 percent, pork spare ribs 13.2 percent and American cheese 14.3 percent.

The decline was unexpected. Economists polled by MarketWatch had predicted a 0.1% increase in the PPI after a 0.6% gain in April and a 0.5% rise in March. The price of goods fell 0.2% in May led by a drop in the wholesale cost of energy. The price of services also decreased 0.2%. Personal consumption, a new index designed to foreshadow changes in the consumer price index, fell 0.2% in May.

University presidents overwhelmingly oppose letting students carry concealed guns on their campuses — and don’t really want people carrying them anywhere else, either. A study commissioned by Ball State University polled 401 university presidents in the U.S. and found that 95 percent of them do not want students with concealed handguns to be allowed at their universities. Furthermore, most weren’t comfortable with students having guns anywhere else either, as 65 percent of them opposed the carrying of concealed handguns off-campus. The numbers are hardly surprising, as the university presidents seem to have little personal taste for guns. Seventy-nine percent of...

More than 40 bicycles belonging to Baltimore's Recreation and Parks department for a bike-share program were stolen this week, and the activity has been suspended indefinitely, city officials said. The bikes, which included children's bikes and adult-size blue beach cruisers, were stolen on Monday during the city's Ride Around the Reservoir program in Druid Hill Park. Recreation and Parks spokeswoman Gwendolyn Chambers said staff had set up the bikes to lend out when a large group of youths began stealing them. One staffer was kicked by a youth, though the injury was not serious, Chambers said. "We don't want our...

There are currently 61.1 million American men in their prime working years, age 25–54. A staggering 1 in 8 such men are not in the labor force at all, meaning they are neither working nor looking for work. This is an all-time high dating back to when records were first kept in 1955. An additional 2.9 million men are in the labor force but not employed (i.e., they would work if they could find a job). A total of 10.2 million individuals in this cohort, therefore, are not holding jobs in the U.S. economy today. There are also nearly 3...

WASHINGTON (MNI) - Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits jumped for the second straight week in the April 26 week, climbing by 14,000 to 344,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The Labor Department said there were no special factors, however, the latest report reflects a second straight week of a double digit increase in initial claims which are now at the highest level since February 22 week when they were 351,000. Expectations for this week's report was for a claims level of 320,000, which would have been a 9,000 decrease from the previously reported 329,000 level in the April...

If you listen carefully, you can hear the stampede of politicians distancing themselves from their once best-friend - Hotel magnate Sant Singh Chatwal - as AP reports, he plead guilty Thursday to charges he secretly funneled more than $180,000 in illegal campaign contributions to three unnamed candidates and coached someone to lie about it. Without the contributions "nobody will even talk to you," Chatwal said. "That's the only way to buy them, get into the system." Welcome to the ugly truth of American politik.  The FT details that Sant Singh Chatwal, chairman of Hampshire Hotels Management, pleaded guilty on Thursday...

PHILADELPHIA -- Union College won its first NCAA hockey title Saturday night at the Frozen Four, scoring three times in a 1:54 span in the first period in a 7-4 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night. Mike Vecchione tied the score at 2 with 4:01 left in the first, Eli Lichtenwald gave the Dutchman the lead 57 seconds later, and Daniel Ciampini capped the spree with 2:57 to go. “I don't think anyone will call us Cinderella anymore,” said Shayne Gostisbehere, who had a goal and two assists. “These guys, my brothers, they do everything. I don't care about anything...

There's a dirty little secret buried in the monthly employment data. It's a secret so dark, so exquisitely threatening to the financial media industry that those who reveal it risk being expunged from the community like magicians revealing their tricks. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 192,000 jobs were added to the economy in March. The unemployment rate stayed flat at 6.7%. The participation rate rose to 63.2%. Now the dirty secret: none of that actually matters very much. 1.The number itself is simply impossible to measure with any accuracy ... 2.The unemployment rate is irrelevant. ... 3.No...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to some strength in the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had forecast first-time filings for jobless aid rising to 317,000 in the week ended March 29.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to some strength in the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the week ended March 22 were revised to show 1,000 fewer applications received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time applications for jobless benefits rising to 317,000 in the week ended March 29. The four-week moving average for new claims, considered a better measure of underlying...

So far in 2014, initial unemployment claims have been largely stuck, though we were supposed to see some progress this morning. According to the new figures from the Labor Department, we didn’t: The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped by 14,000 to 348,000 last week to match a five-week high, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected claims to total 335,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The average of new claims over the past month, a more reliable gauge than the volatile weekly number, was unchanged at 338,250.