Time (November 10 Issue)
“Ballooning health care costs are driving up the price of insurance for the 154 million Americans who rely on employer-sponsored coverage,” where an average increase of 6.5% is expected in 2026, “the highest increase since 2010.” Things are even worse for those who do not have employer-sponsored coverage. Those covered by Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans are likely to see their premiums “rise by an average of 75% in 2026.”
Tags: 2010, 2026, ACA, Ballooning, Costs, Coverage, Employer-sponsored, Health care, Insurance, Plans, Premiums, Price, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (July 29)
The “post-covid factory boom Is running out of steam,” leaving U.S. manufacturers to rethink “their plans as they brace for an extended slump in demand.” Compounding factors include “higher interest rates, rising operating costs, a strengthening U.S. dollar and lower selling prices for commodities” as more executives forecast “challenging business conditions for the remainder of the year.”
Tags: Commodities, Demand, Dollar, Executives, Extended slump, Factory boom, Interest rates, Manufacturers, Operating costs, Plans, Post-Covid, Rethink, U.S.
New York Times (August 28)
“Each pandemic fall has brought with it employers’ hopes of a broad-scale return to the office.” Delta scrapped last year’s plans, “but this time, business leaders are adamant that they won’t change course.” Over a third of the workforce is adamant about staying remote, “It’s either the end of the era of flexibility around where work takes place — or the beginning of outright rebellion.”
Tags: Adamant, Business leaders, Delta, Employers, Fall, Flexibility, Office, Outright, Pandemic, Plans, Remote, Return, Workforce
San Francisco Chronicle (January 10)
“As the omicron variant once again scrambles well-laid plans, possibly killing the return-to-office date altogether,” millions of workers hope they will “never have to work in an office full time again.” The initial response to COVID may have appeared confined to “a niche, tech-world revolution,” but this has “spread to nearly every sort of job where remote work is possible,” close to 50% of the U.S. workforce.
Tags: Covid, Full-time, Office, Omicron, Plans, Remote, Return, Revolution, Scrambles, Tech-world, U.S., Variant, Workers
Los Angeles Times (November 13)
“The key aim of COP26 was to ‘keep 1.5C alive.’ Despite pessimism among many heading into Glasgow, there is still reason to believe that’s possible. But only if the hard work begins now. We need to hold leaders accountable for their pledges and see to it that plans are carried out. Our future depends on it.”
Washington Post (November 9)
“After nine days of grand pronouncements, pledges and plans, scientists delivered a rude awakening to a COP26 summit that has been called ‘the last, best hope’ for climate action: Earth is on track to warm about 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit), eclipsing the world’s shared climate goal by a full degree.”
Tags: 2.5 degrees, Climate action, COP26, Earth, Hope, Plans, Pledges, Pronouncements, Rude awakening, Scientists, Summit
Boston Globe (September 20)
“Back-to-office plans are playing out much differently than anyone expected. Anticipation for a momentous post-Labor Day return has come and gone, but now a growing number of employers are repopulating their offices gradually and on a voluntary basis, rather than pinning all their hopes—and anxieties—onto one date.”
Tags: Anticipation, Employers, Labor Day, Office, Plans, Repopulating, Return
