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Questions you aren’t asking (but should) during open enrollment

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

By Kate Ashford | NerdWalletOpen enrollment is no one’s idea of a good time, but health coverage is a crucial part of your financial health. Whether you’re getting insurance through an employer or the Affordable Care Act marketplace, it’s important to ask the right questions before you choose a health plan for 2024.“Open enrollment is a great time to do a personal health audit,” says certified public accountant Charlene Rhinehart, a personal finance editor at drug savings site GoodRx. “Understanding your current and anticipated health care needs will help you decide which plan is the best fit.”Here’s how to weigh your options.Are your doctors in network?Plan networks change from year to year. If you love your doctor or specialist, make sure they’re still in the network of the plan you’re considering for 2024.You should also consider whether you want the option to go out of the network — which you can usually do in a preferred provider organization, or PPO, plan, although it will cos...

UN warns Gaza blockade could force it to sharply cut relief missions as Israeli bombings rise

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

By NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMY MAGDY and RAVI NESSMAN (Associated Press)RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. warned on Wednesday that it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory blockaded and devastated by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas terrorists launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.The warning came as hospitals in Gaza struggled to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources. The U.N.’s top official faced backlash from Israel after saying the Hamas massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7 that sparked the fighting did not “take place in a vacuum.”Health officials said the death toll was soaring as Israeli jets pounded Gaza overnight into Wednesday.The territory’s Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said more than 750 people were killed over the past 24 hours. The Associated Press could not independently verify the death toll, and it was not known if the count included any terrorists. Hamas has...

House elects Mike Johnson as Speaker, ending GOP chaos

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

The House elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) to be the 56th Speaker on Wednesday, capping off a chaotic three weeks that paralyzed the lower chamber in a stunning fashion.In finally coalescing around a new leader, House Republicans hope that Johnson can lead them through a series of legislative and political landmines in the weeks and months to come.Johnson, who was in his second term as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, won the Speaker's gavel in a 220-209 vote over Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), officially cementing himself as successor to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) following McCarthy's unprecedented removal earlier this month.Johnson’s ascension marks the end of a nasty and tumultuous period for the House GOP conference, which witnessed McCarthy’s ouster, cycled through four Speaker nominees and saw tensions reach a boiling point before settling on Johnson as their next leader.“Democracy is messy sometimes,” Johnson told reporters following...

US Judge Biggers, who ruled on funding for Black universities in Mississippi, dies at 88

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Funeral services were being held Wednesday for longtime U.S. District Judge Neal Brooks Biggers Jr. of Mississippi, who issued significant rulings about prayer in public schools and funding of historically Black universities.Biggers died Oct. 15 at his home in Oxford. He was 88.Services were being held in Corinth, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.Biggers was a Corinth native and served in the Navy before earning his law degree. He was elected as prosecuting attorney in Alcorn County, where Corinth is located; and as district attorney for part of northeast Mississippi. He was later elected as a state circuit judge.In 1984, President Ronald Reagan nominated Biggers to serve as a federal judge for the Northern District of Mississippi.Two of the biggest cases Biggers handled as a federal judge involved racial disparities in state university funding and prayer in school.In the 1970s racial disparities case, Black plaintiffs argued that Mississippi...

Drought reveals cracks in Canada-U.S. Columbia River Treaty as B.C. lake dries up

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

Victoria Youmans says she hasn’t seen Arrow Lakes Reservoir looking so low in more than 20 years.The resident of Nakusp on the shores of the reservoir in British Columbia’s southern Interior says she’s seen thousands of dead fish on the shore, and the receding waterline means boat access has been cut to waterfront properties. Instead of lapping waters, some homes now face an expanse of sucking quicksand.Drought is part of reason. But so too is the Columbia River Treaty with the United States that obligates B.C. to direct water from the reservoir across the border at American behest.The grim scenes described by Youmans illustrate the stakes in ongoing talks between Canadian and U.S. negotiators to modernize the 62-year-old treaty, as the increased risk of extreme weather weighs on both sides. Part of the treaty that gives the United States direct control over a portion of the water in Arrow Lakes Reservoir and two other B.C. dams is set to expire in September 2024.&...

French-language university heads criticize tuition hike for non-Quebec students

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

MONTREAL — A group of French-language university heads in Quebec is coming to the defence of English schools who say a planned tuition hike for out-of-province students could devastate their finances.The leaders of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, Polytechnique Montréal and HEC Montréal criticize the plan in an open letter published in La Presse today.They denounce “any measure that would put the very existence of a university at risk.”They also criticize what they describe as characterizations of non-Quebec students as “cash cows” and threats to the French language by proponents of the tuition hike.Tuition for new students from other provinces would increase from about $9,000 to around $17,000 starting next fall under the Quebec government plan.The measure is expected to mostly affect the province’s three English universities, McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s, which welcome more non-Quebec students than French...

What a weaker loonie means for Canadians

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

TORONTO — The Canadian dollar has dipped against its U.S. counterpart following the Bank of Canada’s decision to hold its key interest rate at five per cent. Here’s what it means for Canadians. How is the loonie doing? As of midday, it was trading at 72.55 cents to the U.S. dollar, compared with 72.83 cents on Tuesday. It was trading above 75 cents US as recently as July, while the current level is approaching a brief low of 72.43 cents US hit in March. It also traded in the 72-cent range last October, and dipped below 69 cents US in March 2020 in the early days of the pandemic. It traded above 82 cents US in May 2021. Who does it help?A lower Canadian dollar can boost industries like tourism, where the weaker dollar increases visitors from abroad, especially from the U.S., as their money goes further here.It can also mean bigger profits for Canadian businesses that export, like the oil and gas industry, forestry and manufacturing. Where does it hurt? A lower loonie mean...

‘It’s grim:’ Community devastated by shooting deaths in Sault Ste. Marie

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Halloween decorations still fluttered from the front porch of a home in Sault Ste. Marie where three children were found shot dead this week, the youngest victims of a rampage in the northern Ontario city that ended with five people killed.In the front windows, more decorations hung in anticipation of the upcoming celebration, while outside, yellow police tape surrounded the bungalow as neighbours could occasionally be seen weeping nearby. The entire neighbourhood, one resident said, was feeling the weight of what police have described as a tragic case of intimate partner violence. “You can feel it in the air outside, like it’s grim,” said Aarika Bonin, who lives down the street from the home where the children – aged six, seven and 12 – were killed. “I stand outside to put my son on the bus and it’s sad … it’s just a sad day for the whole community and the families involved. It’s going to be sad for a while.&#...

Jury selection continues in trial of boat captain in 2019 fire that killed 34 passengers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jury selection continued Wednesday in the federal trial of the captain of a scuba dive boat that caught fire in 2019, killing 34 people on board and becoming the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. Captain Jerry Boylan is charged with one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as “seaman’s manslaughter” that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters. He faces 10 years behind bars if convicted.He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. His federal public defenders did not return The Associated Press’ repeated requests for comment, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.The National Transportation Safety Board blamed Boylan for the tragedy, saying his failure to post a roving night watchman allowed the fire to quickly spread undetected, trapping the 33 passengers and one crew member below.U.S. District Court Judge Geo...

1,000-plus cars recovered, over 200 arrested in stolen vehicle investigation across Toronto

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:56:18 GMT

Toronto police announced that over 1,000 cars had been recovered, and more than 200 people were arrested and charged as part of a stolen vehicle investigation across the city.Police Chief Myron Demkiw was present to unveil the results of Project Stallion, an initiative that focused on vehicle and catalytic converter thefts that began in November 2022.Project Stallion concluded in September 2023, resulting in the recovery of more than 1,000 stolen vehicles worth almost $60 million and more than 500 charges laid against 228 people. Demkiw said there have been just under 1,000 vehicles stolen in Toronto to date in 2023, and during Project Stallion, more than 3,500 vehicles were stolen across two police divisions. Related: ‘Trust your instincts’: Police warn public of 3 carjackings within week in Markham Investigators believe thieves are stealing vehicles and using a variety of cars to carry out other violent crimes or are shipping them overseas, where they ...