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CDC eases Covid guidance as US has more tools to fight the virus and keep people out of the hospital

A sign outside of a hospital advertises COVID-19 testing on November 19, 2021 in New York City. On Friday vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention voted unanimously in recommending a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccines for all adults in the United States six months after they finish their first two doses.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its Covid-19 guidance on Thursday, saying the virus now poses a much lower risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death compared to earlier in the pandemic.

The CDC is no longer recommending testing to screen people with possible asymptomatic infections in most settings, such as schools. However, screening is still recommended in certain high risk settings such as nursing homes and prisons.

And people who are not up to date on their vaccines no longer need to quarantine if they have been exposed to Covid-19, according to the new CDC guidance. Instead, public health officials now recommend that these individuals wear a mask for 10 days and get tested on day five.

Greta Massetti, a CDC epidemiologist, said the US has the vaccines and treatments needed to fight the virus. As a consequence, the virus now poses a much lower threat to public health, according to the CDC. But it remains crucial for everyone to remain up to date on their vaccines, according to the public health agency.

“This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives,” Massetti said in a statement.

People with healthy immune systems, regardless of vaccination status, should isolate for five days after testing positive for the virus, but you can end isolation at day six if you have not had symptoms or if you have not had a fever for 24 hours and other symptoms have improved, according to the guidelines.

After leaving isolation, you should wear a high-quality mask through day 10 after your positive test. If you have had two negative rapid antigen tests you can stop wearing your mask earlier, according to the guidelines. But you should avoid people who are more likely to get sick from Covid, such as the elderly and people with weak immune systems, until at least day 11.

People with weakened immune systems, those who have been hospitalized with Covid, or those who have had shortness of breath due to the virus should isolate from others for 10 days. But people with weakened immune systems and those who were hospitalized should also consult a physician before ending isolation.

If you end isolation but your Covid symptoms worsen, you should return to isolation and follow the guidelines from scratch again, according to the CDC.

The US is currently reporting more than 107,000 new cases a day on average, according to the CDC. That’s likely to be a significant undercount because many people are now testing at home and results are not picked up in official data.

About 6,000 people with Covid are admitted to the hospital a day on average, according to the CDC data. Nearly 400 people are still dying a day on average from the virus.

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Republicans block cap on insulin costs for many Americans from Democratic deal

US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to reporters following the Senate Republicans weekly policy lunch at the US Capitol in Washington, July 19, 2022.

Elizabeth Franz | Reuters

Republican senators on Sunday voted down a cap on the price of insulin in the private market, removing it from Democrats’ sweeping climate and economic package.

Democrats had tried to preserve the provision to cap insulin costs at $35 for private insurers, but that vote failed 57-43, with seven Republicans voting with them to keep the insulin cost cap in the bill, three short of what was needed.

The move was expected following a decision by the Senate parliamentarian, who determined earlier that the insulin provision was not compliant with the chamber’s strict budget rules. Democrats need to comply with those rules to advance the legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, without any Republican votes.

The legislation, however, still includes a $35 copay cap on the price of insulin for seniors on Medicare.

Following the vote, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused Republicans of caving to pressures from the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of citizens.

“Republicans have just gone on the record in favor of expensive insulin,” Wyden said in a statement. “After years of tough talk about taking on insulin makers, Republicans have once wilted against in the face of heat from Big Pharma.”

“Fortunately, the $35 insulin copay cap for insulin in Medicare remains in the bill, so seniors will get relief from high insulin costs. I will continue working to deliver lower insulin costs to all Americans,” he added.

Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana; Susan Collins of Maine; Josh Hawley of Missouri; Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi; and Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska joined Democrats in voting to keep the insulin cap for private insurers on Sunday.

Senators have been working through the weekend on amendment votes after the chamber advanced the bill Saturday in a 51-50 procedural vote, with all Republicans opposing the motion to proceed with the bill and Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.

Senate Democrats are aiming to pass the legislation on Sunday, bringing long-stalled elements of President Joe Biden’s agenda, including major spending to combat climate change and extend health care coverage, one step closer to reality. The package will then head to the House, which is currently planning to pass it on Friday.

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Large Indiana employers Eli Lilly and Cummins speak out about the state’s new restrictive abortion law

An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured at 50 ImClone Drive in Branchburg, New Jersey, March 5, 2021.

Mike Segar | Reuters

Drugmaker Eli Lilly, one of the biggest employers in Indiana, said that the state’s newly passed law restricting abortions will cause the company to grow away from its home turf.

Lilly said in a statement on Saturday that it recognizes abortion as a “divisive and deeply personal issue with no clear consensus among the citizens of Indiana.”

“Despite this lack of agreement, Indiana has opted to quickly adopt one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the United States,” Eli Lilly said. “We are concerned that this law will hinder Lilly’s — and Indiana’s — ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world. Given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state.”

Indiana’s Legislature on Friday became the first in the nation to pass new legislation restricting access to abortions since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The state was among the earliest Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws after the Supreme Court ruling in June that removed constitutional protections for the procedure.

Lilly employs about 10,000 people in Indiana, where it has been headquartered in Indianapolis for more than 145 years.

Cummins, an engine manufacturing company that also employs about 10,000 people in Indiana, spoke out over the weekend against the new law as well.

“The right to make decisions regarding reproductive health ensures that women have the same opportunity as others to participate fully in our workforce and that our workforce is diverse,” a company spokesman said in a statement.

“There are provisions in the law that conflict with this, impact our people, impede our ability to attract and retain top talent and influence our decisions as we continue to grow our footprint with a focus on selecting welcoming and inclusive environments,” the Cummins spokesman said.

The two businesses join a growing list of companies, including tech giant Apple and denim retailer Levi Strauss, which are offering their employees resources for reproductive care in states where restrictions have been put into place.

Eli Lilly noted Saturday that although the pharmaceutical company has expanded its employee health plan coverage to include travel for reproductive services, “that may not be enough for some current and potential employees.”

Indiana’s abortion ban is expected to go into effect on Sept. 15. It comes with some exceptions, including for cases of rape or incest, and for protecting the mother’s life.

President Joe Biden’s administration has also condemned Indiana’s decision. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called it a “devastating step.”

“And, it’s another radical step by Republican legislators to take away women’s reproductive rights and freedom, and put personal health-care decisions in the hands of politicians rather than women and their doctors,” she said in a statement.

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Does the Inflation Reduction Act violate Biden’s $400,000 tax pledge?

JimWatson | Afp | Getty Images

Senate Democrats’ package of climate change, health-care, drug pricing and tax measures unveiled last week has proponents and opponents debating whether the legislation violates a pledge President Joe Biden has made since his presidential campaign, to do not raise taxes on households with incomes below $400,000 a year.

The answer isn’t quite as simple as it seems.

“The fun part about this is, you can get a different answer depending on who you ask,” said John Buhl, an analyst at the Tax Policy Center.

More from Personal Finance:
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Remote work is helping fight inflation

The White House has used $400,000 as a rough dividing line for the wealthy relative to middle and lower earners. That income threshold equates to about the top 1% to 2% of American taxpayers.

The new bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, doesn’t directly raise taxes on households below that line, according to tax experts. In other words, the legislation wouldn’t trigger an increase on taxpayers’ annual tax returns if their income is below $400,000, experts said.

But some aspects of the legislation may have adverse downstream effects — a sort of indirect taxation, experts said. This “indirect” element is where opponents seem to have directed their ire.

What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act

The legislation — brokered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., who’d been a key centrist holdout — would invest about $485 billion toward climate and health-care measures through 2031, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis issued Wednesday.

Broadly, that spending would be in the form of tax breaks and rebates for households that buy electric vehicles and make their homes more energy-efficient, and a three-year extension of the current Affordable Care Act subsidies for health insurance.

The bill would also raise an estimated $790 billion via tax measures, reforms for prescription drug prices and a fee on methane emissions, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Taxes account for the bulk — $450 billion — of the revenue.

Critics say corporate changes could affect workers

Specifically, the legislation would provide more resources for IRS enforcement of tax cheats and would tweak the “carried interest” rules for taxpayers who earn more than $400,000. The change to carried-interest rules — which allow certain private equity and other investors to pay a preferential tax rate on profits — is likely dead, though, after Democratic leaders agreed to scrap it to win support from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-AZ.

Those elements aren’t controversial relative to the tax pledge — they don’t raise the annual tax bills middle and low earners owe, experts said.

The Inflation Reduction Act would also implement a 15% corporate minimum tax, paid on the income large companies report to shareholders. This is where “indirect” taxes might come into play, experts said. For example, a corporation with a higher tax bill might pass on those additional costs to employees, perhaps in the form of a lower raise, or reduced corporate profits may hurt 401(k) and other investors who own a piece of the company in a mutual fund.

The Democrats’ approach to tax reform means increasing taxes on low- and middle-income Americans.

Sen. mike krapo

Republican of Idaho

The current corporate tax rate is 21% but some companies are able to reduce their effective tax rate and therefore pay back their bill.

As a result of the policy, those with incomes below $200,000 would pay almost $17 billion in combined additional tax in 2023, according to a Joint Committee on Taxation analysis published July 29. That combined tax burden falls to about $2 billion by 2031, according to the JCT, an independent scorekeeper for Congress.

“The Democrats’ approach to tax reform means increasing taxes on low- and middle-income Americans,” Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Finance Committee, said of the analysis.

Others say financial benefits outweigh indirect costs

However, the JCT analysis does not provide a complete picture, according to experts. That’s because it doesn’t account for the benefits of consumer tax rebates, health premium subsidies and lower prescription drug costs, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Observers who consider indirect costs should weigh these financial benefits, too, experts argue.

“The selective presentation by some of the distributional effects of this bill neglects benefits to middle-class families from reducing deficits, from bringing down prescription drug prices and from more affordable energy,” a group of five former Treasury secretaries from both Democratic and Republican administrations wrote Wednesday.

The $64 billion of total Affordable Care Act subsidies alone would “be more than enough to counter net tax increases below $400,000 in the JCT study,” according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which also estimates Americans would save $300 billion on costs and premiums for prescription drugs.

The combined policies would offer a net tax cut for Americans by 2027, the group said.

Further, setting a minimum corporate tax rate shouldn’t be viewed as an “extra” tax, but a “reclaiming of revenue lost to tax avoidance and provisions benefitting the most affluent,” argued the former Treasury secretaries. They are Timothy Geithner, Jacob Lew, Henry Paulson Jr., Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.

There are additional wrinkles to consider, though, according to Buhl of the Tax Policy Center.

For example, to what extent do companies pass on their tax bills to workers versus shareholders? Economists differ on this point, Buhl said. And what about companies with a lot of excess cash on hand? Might that cash buffer lead a company not to levy an indirect tax on its workers?

“You could end up going down these rabbit holes forever,” Buhl said. “It’s just one of the fun parts of tax pledges,” he added.

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Categories
US

Does the Inflation Reduction Act violate Biden’s $400,000 tax pledge?

JimWatson | Afp | Getty Images

Senate Democrats’ package of climate change, health-care, drug pricing and tax measures unveiled last week has proponents and opponents debating whether the legislation violates a pledge President Joe Biden has made since his presidential campaign, to do not raise taxes on households with incomes below $400,000 a year.

The answer isn’t quite as simple as it seems.

“The fun part about this is, you can get a different answer depending on who you ask,” said John Buhl, an analyst at the Tax Policy Center.

More from Personal Finance:
Embryos can count as dependents on Georgia state tax returns
Would you be included in student loan forgiveness?
Remote work is helping fight inflation

The White House has used $400,000 as a rough dividing line for the wealthy relative to middle and lower earners. That income threshold equates to about the top 1% to 2% of American taxpayers.

The new bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, doesn’t directly raise taxes on households below that line, according to tax experts. In other words, the legislation wouldn’t trigger an increase on taxpayers’ annual tax returns if their income is below $400,000, experts said.

But some aspects of the legislation may have adverse downstream effects — a sort of indirect taxation, experts said. This “indirect” element is where opponents seem to have directed their ire.

What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act

The legislation — brokered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., who’d been a key centrist holdout — would invest about $485 billion toward climate and health-care measures through 2031, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis issued Wednesday.

Broadly, that spending would be in the form of tax breaks and rebates for households that buy electric vehicles and make their homes more energy-efficient, and a three-year extension of the current Affordable Care Act subsidies for health insurance.

The bill would also raise an estimated $790 billion via tax measures, reforms for prescription drug prices and a fee on methane emissions, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Taxes account for the bulk — $450 billion — of the revenue.

Critics say corporate changes could affect workers

Specifically, the legislation would provide more resources for IRS enforcement of tax cheats and would tweak the “carried interest” rules for taxpayers who earn more than $400,000. Carried-interest rules allow certain private equity and other investors to pay a preferential tax rate on profits.

Those elements aren’t controversial relative to the tax pledge — they don’t raise the annual tax bills middle and low earners owe, experts said.

The Inflation Reduction Act would also implement a 15% corporate minimum tax, paid on the income large companies report to shareholders. This is where “indirect” taxes might come into play, experts said. For example, a corporation with a higher tax bill might pass on those additional costs to employees, perhaps in the form of a lower raise, or reduced corporate profits may hurt 401(k) and other investors who own a piece of the company in a mutual fund.

The Democrats’ approach to tax reform means increasing taxes on low- and middle-income Americans.

Sen. mike krapo

Republican of Idaho

The current corporate tax rate is 21% but some companies are able to reduce their effective tax rate and therefore pay back their bill.

As a result of the policy, those with incomes below $200,000 would pay almost $17 billion in combined additional tax in 2023, according to a Joint Committee on Taxation analysis published July 29. That combined tax burden falls to about $2 billion by 2031, according to the JCT, an independent scorekeeper for Congress.

“The Democrats’ approach to tax reform means increasing taxes on low- and middle-income Americans,” Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Finance Committee, said of the analysis.

Others say financial benefits outweigh indirect costs

However, the JCT analysis does not provide a complete picture, according to experts. That’s because it doesn’t account for the benefits of consumer tax rebates, health premium subsidies and lower prescription drug costs, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Observers who consider indirect costs should weigh these financial benefits, too, experts argue.

“The selective presentation by some of the distributional effects of this bill neglects benefits to middle-class families from reducing deficits, from bringing down prescription drug prices and from more affordable energy,” a group of five former Treasury secretaries from both Democratic and Republican administrations wrote Wednesday.

The $64 billion of total Affordable Care Act subsidies alone would “be more than enough to counter net tax increases below $400,000 in the JCT study,” according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which also estimates Americans would save $300 billion on costs and premiums for prescription drugs.

The combined policies would offer a net tax cut for Americans by 2027, the group said.

Further, setting a minimum corporate tax rate shouldn’t be viewed as an “extra” tax, but a “reclaiming of revenue lost to tax avoidance and provisions benefitting the most affluent,” argued the former Treasury secretaries. They are Timothy Geithner, Jacob Lew, Henry Paulson Jr., Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.

There are additional wrinkles to consider, though, according to Buhl of the Tax Policy Center.

For example, to what extent do companies pass on their tax bills to workers versus shareholders? Economists differ on this point, Buhl said. And what about companies with a lot of excess cash on hand? Might that cash buffer lead a company not to levy an indirect tax on its workers?

“You could end up going down these rabbit holes forever,” Buhl said. “It’s just one of the fun parts of tax pledges,” he added.

.

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DOJ sues to block Idaho abortion law after Supreme Court tosses Roe

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announces enforcement actions against Russia, during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, US, April 6, 2022.

Elizabeth Franz | Reuters

The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block Idaho’s new restrictive abortion law on the grounds that it violates federal law requiring most hospitals to give medically necessary treatment to patients before discharging them.

It is the first Justice Department lawsuit to target a state’s new abortion restrictions adopted on the heels of the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, which said there is not a federal constitutional right to abortion.

That ruling reversed the Supreme Court’s 49-year-old decision in Roe v. Wade, which established the nationwide right of women to terminate their pregnancies.

Attorney General Merrick Garland held a news conference detailing the lawsuit.

The suit filed in Idaho federal court notes that the state “has passed a near-absolute ban on abortion,” which after taking effect Aug. 25 will make it a criminal offense to perform an abortion “in all but extremely narrow circumstances.”

Garland said the ban conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires a hospital that accepts Medicare funds to provide treatment at their emergency departments to stabilize a patient necessary to stabilize their medical condition before transferring or discharging the patient.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.

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California declares a state of emergency over monkeypox outbreak, following New York and Illinois

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) talks with reporters after a meeting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the US Capitol, on Friday, July 15, 2022.

Tom-Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak on Monday, the third US state to do so in a matter of days.

Newsom said the emergency declaration would help support the state’s vaccination efforts. Demand for the vaccines has outstripped supply as infections rise. Staff at sexual health clinics and other sites have struggled to keep up with the influx of people seeking the shots.

California is mobilizing personnel from its Emergency Medical Services to help administer the monkeypox vaccines. Newsom said the state is working across all levels of government to slow the spread through testing, contract tracing and community outreach.

California’s declaration comes after Illinois declared a public health emergency earlier Monday. New York declared a state disaster emergency in response to the outbreak late Friday.

The US has reported nearly 6,000 cases of monkeypox across 48 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak has spread swiftly since health authorities in Boston confirmed the first US case in May.

California, Illinois and New York – home to the nation’s three largest cities – have reported 47% of all confirmed monkeypox infections in the US New York is the epicenter of the outbreak in the US, with nearly 1,400 confirmed cases as of Monday.

The Biden administration is weighing whether to declare a public health emergency in the US, according to senior federal health officials. This would help mobilize resources for state health officials that are battling the outbreak. The last time the US declared a public health emergency was in response to Covid-19 in January 2020.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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