WASHINGTON - Medicare is looking like a big fat piggy bank for health care overhaul. President Barack Obama and the Democrats want to pay for much of their plan to cover the uninsured by cutting hundreds of billions from the Medicare budget over the next 10 years. From its inception, the health [ Read More → ]

CHICAGO - The cost of medical benefits is projected to jump again next year with premiums and out-of-pocket expenses rising 10 percent. That likely will mean more pain for workers, who have seen their share of the tab triple since 2001. In 2010, the combined average premium and out-of-pocket costs for [ Read More → ]

SAN FRANCISCO - Social Security provides a majority of the retirement income for about two-thirds of Americans over age 65, but if you’re in your mid-50s or younger, it’s time to make alternate arrangements. The program’s dismal outlook has long been known, but the recent economic crisis further scarred the program’s [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON - Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that’s happened since the 1980s. The deficits , $10 billion in 2010 and $9 [ Read More → ]

As the Citizens Advice Bureau service turns 70 today, it has revealed that record numbers of people are turning to the charity for help with recession-linked problems of job loss and debt. The new figures show that Citizens Advice Bureaux across England and Wales are dealing with an average of 9,300 [ Read More → ]

Citizens Advice celebrates 70 years Photo: CAB The charity said it was currently handling around 9,300 new debt cases and talking to 8,000 people with benefit problems every working day as the recession continues to take its toll. The group said the number of people contacting it because they were struggling [ Read More → ]

Satoko Nielsen caught a nonstop flight from Portland to Tokyo in July, finding the video displays broken for the ride of more than 10 hours. The Northwest Portland resident’s daughter took the same Delta Air Lines flight a few days later. It departed three hours late. On the return trip, [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — Investors moved back into stocks after a four-day slide as they awaited a key government report on unemployment. The Dow Jones industrial average tacked on 64 points today after sliding 300 points since Friday. Stocks held to a tight range in light trading volume as some investors [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — Stocks moved higher in early trading today, breaking a four-day losing streak after the latest reading on the jobs market and mixed retail sales reports. The moderate gains in stocks came as the Labor Department said the number of people filing for unemployment claims fell last week [ Read More → ]

Job loss or the fear of it has pushed more people to use their employer-sponsored health insurance before they lose it. Major health insurers have seen their medical costs rise in recent quarters, in part because people covered by employer-sponsored plans have rushed to use services before their benefits are cut [ Read More → ]