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In July analyst Paul Westra of the brokerage firm Stifel Nicolaus warned of a looming “restaurant recession,” noting that it might be the first sign of a more widespread U.S. recession in 2017. He said this in a bearish report that downgraded 11 restaurant stocks. The facts on the ground support his gloomy forecast. Restaurant…

Rising health care costs have become the hallmark of a partisan Obamacare law that was sold with promises to lower them. The Obama White House just announced that health care premiums will rise again this year for millions of Americans by an almost unbelievable 25% under Obamacare. And that’s just a national average. Many Pennsylvanians…

Having health insurance is vital for 21-year-old Mercedes Nimmer, who takes several expensive prescription drugs to manage multiple sclerosis. So Nimmer was thrilled to get health insurance last year through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace and qualify for a federal subsidy to substantially lower her cost. Yet, the government assistance still left her with a…

The final Obamacare open enrollment of President Obama’s presidency starts Tuesday with enrollees facing fewer insurers and higher premiums for health coverage. However, the impact will largely depend on where the enrollee lives, as some states are faring far worse than others in plan offerings and rates. The administration wants to get 13.8 million people…

Obamacare customers are acting more cost-conscious than other people with insurance — and it could be affecting their health. A new survey finds that 50 percent of people who buy health plans through government-run Obamacare marketplaces say they cut back on getting health care services as they try to manage costs. That can include not…

Arizona was shaping up to be one of the more unlikely battlegrounds of the 2016 campaign when a political bombshell appeared to explode last week: The Obama administration revealed that the cost of midlevel plans on the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace here would increase next year by 116 percent on average. Senator John…

Americans in the health insurance markets created by President Barack Obama’s law will have less choice next year than any time since the program started, a new county-level analysis for The Associated Press has found. The analysis by AP and consulting firm Avalere Health found that about one-third of U.S. counties will have only one…

House lawmakers are angry that one of the last taxpayer-funded Obamacare plans wants to move to for-profit status, saying that the millions of dollars provided in startup loans were meant to go to nonprofits. Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee wrote to the Obama administration and the Maryland consumer-oriented and operated plan…

President Barack Obama leaves the White House in 12 weeks, but the law that bears his name will polarize politics long after he’s gone. Big price hikes to Affordable Care Act premiums announced this week mean that Obama’s proudest legislative achievement will fail to resolve the decades-old controversy surrounding the government’s role in managing the…

On Tuesday the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced some tax benefits will increase in 2017 in order to adjust for inflation. According to the IRS the standard deduction for married couples in 2017 will be $12,700, up from $12,600, and both the earned income tax credit and the amount exempt from the estate tax will…