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The findings have wide-reaching implications for the nation’s health and medical costs as it faces a growing burden of weight-related diseases. Americans are becoming overweight or obese at younger ages than in the past. Both conditions can raise the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and shorten life expectancy. Particularly alarming is the steep rise among children, more than one in three of whom are now overweight or obese. Without aggressive intervention, the forecast is for the number of overweight and obese people to continue to go up reaching nearly 260 million people in 2050.

The average monthly premium for a stand-alone Part D prescription plan is projected to be $40 next year, a decline of $1.63, or nearly $20 annually, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said in September. Average Medicare Advantage monthly premiums are expected to decrease by $1.23 a month to $17 in 2025. Medicare Advantage members must be enrolled in Parts A and B of Medicare. Part A is free if a person or their spouse has paid Medicare taxes for at least 40 quarters, the equivalent of 10 years. Part B premiums are recalculated every year. About 60 percent of Medicare Advantage enrollees who stay in their current plan will have no MA premium next year, CMS officials say. The agency projects that more than 4 in 5 enrollees will have the same or lower premiums in 2025...

General Motors (GM) is recalling 461,839 diesel vehicles due to a transmission issue that can impact wheel function, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to the NHTSA recall notice released Wednesday, a transmission valve prone to wearing down over time can cause the rear wheels of affected vehicles to lock up, increasing crash risk.Twenty-four 2020 through 2022 vehicle types are subject to the recall, including certain GMC trucks and SUVs as well as multiple Chevrolet and Cadillac models. A GM investigation shared by NHTSA found reports of potentially related rear wheel issues dating as far back as 2020

The travel writer's “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad. Frommer began writing about travel while serving in the U.S. Army in Europe in the 1950s. When a guidebook he wrote for American soldiers overseas sold out, he launched what became one of the travel industry’s best-known brands, self-publishing “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” in 1957. The Frommer’s brand, led today by his daughter Pauline, remains one of the best-known names in the travel industry, with guidebooks to destinations around the world, an influential social media presence, podcasts and a radio show.

The labor market is bracing for a technological revolution, and workers are apprehensive about it. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is set to usher in a new era but it comes at the cost of ceding control to an unrelenting digital intellect. Will it jeopardize the current paradigm of the work ecosystem? Some experts in technological development argue that there is no reason to fear the evolution of machines. They view it as just another technological leap, albeit one offering many more capabilities, which is capable of defining a new way of doing things. Others, however, are certain that everything will change. [More]

In most US cities, buying a home now requires a six-figure salary. A household needed to earn $107,700 to afford a new single-family home and pay property taxes and insurance costs in the third quarter of this year, according to a new report from Oxford Economics. That’s nearly double the household income of $56,800 needed to afford a new home in 2019. The report highlights just how difficult it has become, in a matter of just a few years, for Americans to afford purchasing a new home. Just 36% of US households earned enough to afford a new home, compared to 59% in Q3 2019. Location still matters. San Jose, California, was the least affordable US metro region, with a median house price of $1.89 million and an income of $461,000 needed to afford a home. The most affordable cities were ...

The popular sit-down restaurant chain TGI Fridays has filed for bankruptcy in an effort to “ensure the long-term viability of the brand,” citing financial difficulties after a pandemic-driven downturn. The bar and grill, known for its American food offerings and its kitschy but comfortable atmosphere, had closed dozens of locations in the weeks and months leading up to the bankruptcy announcement. TGI Fridays isn’t the only restaurant chain that has struggled to recover after the pandemic drove diners away. Red Lobster and Buca di Beppo, too, both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections in recent months.