Apr 25 Why your observation stay at the hospital could end with a big bill By Philip Moeller If you never received notification, you might have grounds to argue that the hospital messed up. Continue reading
Apr 19 Watch 4:46 The argument for a U.S. trade deficit with China By Paul Solman America's growing trade deficit is one of President Trump's main arguments for imposing tariffs on China. And yet most economists would agree instead with the doctrine of trade deficits and its benefits for consumers. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports. Continue watching
Apr 18 I had surgery out of state. Why is Medicare refusing to pay? By Philip Moeller If you have basic Medicare, you should be able to see any doctor in the country who accepts Medicare's payment schedule. The story may be different if you have a private Medicare Advantage plan. Continue reading
Apr 13 Column: Why it’s time to raise the federal gas tax By Dan Sichel Federal taxes on motor fuels have fallen over the past 25 years, after adjusting for inflation. But now higher gasoline taxes may well be an idea whose time has come. Continue reading
Apr 12 Watch 9:09 The how and why of buying bitcoin By Paul Solman The basic idea of bitcoin is simple: Instead of a financial institution holding a bank ledger, a chain of computers linked through the internet are all using the same software to record and verify every transaction. But how can a… Continue watching
Apr 12 This is how Bitcoin works By Paul Solman Bitcoin was released nearly a decade ago, but many consumers still don't know much about how it works. Continue reading
Apr 11 Congress’ latest spending bill could bring major changes to Medicare Advantage. Here’s what you need to know By Philip Moeller The upcoming changes to MA plans have the potential to trigger an even larger shift away from original Medicare. Continue reading
Apr 09 Merle Hazard has a new song. This one’s about self-driving trucks By Paul Solman With this post, Making Sen$e debuts Merle Hazard’s newest effort to combine economic comedy and analysis: “Dave’s Song."… Continue reading
Apr 06 Job growth slowed in March. What does that mean for the economy? By Daniel Bush The economy added 103,000 jobs last month, fewer than economists had expected and the lowest monthly total since last September. Continue reading
Apr 05 Watch 2:53 New Facebook revelations over user privacy deepen crisis and invite scrutiny By PBS News Hour Social media giant Facebook says it now believes that up to 87 million people had their data improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm that worked for the Trump campaign, and that public profiles for most of the… Continue watching