 |
|
|
|||||
Millions of Americans who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” stand to lose their premium subsidies, with less than three weeks to go until they expire at the end of 2025. And the result of that would be skyrocketing health care costs for 22 million marketplace users. If Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, it will also trigger a so-called “subsidy cliff,” or strict income maximum that abruptly cuts off subsidies to households with incomes that are over 400% of the federal poverty level. That would raise the costs of those healthcare plans by an estimated 75%, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. Currently, 92% of Americans enrolled the ACA marketplace plan receive some type of enhanced subsidies. That’s 22 out of 24 million people. However, not all would be affected by the subsidy cliff. Letting the credits expire could send insurance skyrocketing to such high levels that many Americans wouldn’t be able to afford their current plans, or worse, keep their healthcare at all. One estimate found average family premiums could triple from $1,200 to $3,553 a month if the credits expire. Congress is set to vote on extending the subsidies in mid-December, but it’s unclear if the House will pass it as is, or tack on conditions. The run-up to that deadline has created a crisis as Republicans, backed by President Donald Trump, have seemed to play Russian roulette with 22 million American taxpayers’ healthcare. (The credits were not extended in Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill.) The dispute over the credits was at the heart of the recent federal government shutdown, with the upcoming vote being a condition for Senate Democrats to end the standoff. The president has said he doesn’t want to extend the credits, and would instead give that money directly to the people so they can purchase their own, much better, health care.” However, according to independent fact-checking publication PolitiFact, without a formal proposal, there’s no way to determine if “Trump’s social media musings” would actually work. Some Republicans are pushing for Americans to rely more on health savings accounts, or HSAs, but these can’t typically be used to pay for the actual health insurance plans themselves. Other Republicans are floating the idea of temporarily extending the credits through the 2026 midterm elections, when many are up for reelection. If Republicans and Democrats in Congress don’t strike a deal, many Americans can expect to pay a lot more for their current plans on the exchange, or end up paying the same for less coverage.
Category:
E-Commerce
Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 200,000 Bronco and Bronco Sport vehicles because an instrument panel can fail, increasing the risk of a crash. Federal auto safety regulators said that the instrument panel may not display at startup, leaving the driver without critical safety information. The recall includes 128,607 Ford Bronco Sports, model years 2025-2026 and 101,002 Ford Broncos, also model years 2025-2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. Ford is not aware of any injuries caused by the instrument panel failure. Owners will be notified by mail beginning Dec. 8 and instructed to take their vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln dealership to have the software updated. The NHTSA recall number is 25V540.
Category:
E-Commerce
When Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier calmly sat down and told a group of assembled local media the WNBA is helmed by the worst leadership in the world on September 30, she likely did so with a full understanding of the potential impact of her words. Collierwho launched Unrivaled, the womens professional three-on-three basketball league alongside the New York Libertys Breanna Stewart in 2023is the granddaughter of Gershon Collier, who served as Sierra Leones representative in the United Nations in the 1960s. She understands the impact of the right words. And the words she chose forced the in-house negotiations between the WNBA and the players union, the Womens National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), fully into the public eye. I think its time that people know whats happeningthe way that the league is not valuing us the way that we need to be valued, Collier said. WNBA players opted out of their current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) last year, and since then the clock has been ticking: after missing the October deadline, the WNBA offered players a 30-day extension, they agreed; the new deadline is November 30. [The players] are at the center of everything we do, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said speaking to reporters on October 3. If the players in the W don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better, and I have to do better. The WNBPAs current fight is one that hails from a long lineage of women-led labor strikes and disputes. UC Santa Barbaras Dr. Eileen Boris, who specializes in labor studies as well as gender, race, class, and womens history in the universitys Feminist Studies department, told Fast Company that there is a big history of women organizing in the United States. Women have never been passive in the workplace, she says. Were seeing that play out yet againand in the case of the WNBA, on one of the biggest public stages possible. Echoes of the past The heart of the dispute is money: the WNBA has never been more popular, and more money than ever has been pouring into the league. At the same time, the players are not adequately compensateda reality that is all the more confusing when one considers that the athletes in the WNBA are both the product and, effectively, the marketing team. Throughout the regular season, fans turn to social media more often than not to catch up on game scores, tunnel fits, and what teams are up to, and they form parasocial relationships with the stars of the game. It should be noted that the WNBAs astronomical growthstaggering increases in viewership and game attendance, league expansion that has included adding a total of six new teams by 2030, improved resources for players such as chartered flights, and an influx of funds from media rights deals and partnershipshave all happened under Engelberts watch. She emphasized to the reporters that the heart of the league lies with building a movement that not only showcases the best athletes in the world, but also inspires millions who dream of following in their footsteps. At the top of the players list of demands is a more equitable share of overall revenue thats coming into the league. The players have proposed a new system: one that allows that share to grow as the leagues revenue grows. That would benefit not only the athletes currently in the league, but for the athletes who will join in years to come. But in response, the league has suggested a system not too dissimilar from what is already in place, offering salary increases that include a cap that increases by a fixed rate over time. To complicate matters further, the WNBA and NBA have not yet shared the books that explain just how much revenue there is. This is hardly the first time the 29-year-old leagues athletes have entered into a legal dispute with the leagues leadership. In fact, the first-ever CBA nearly tore the league apartbut ultimately set the standard for womens professional sports leagues in the United States (and even in the world). And yet, today, players remain embroiled in an extremely public, high-stakes fight; workers (in this case, players) are pushing back on a leadership they believe to be toxic. This reality is underscored by a host of women-led labor movements: From the striking female workers at textile factories in the 1800s in Lowell, Massachusetts, to the garment workers of New York City, to the 1881 Atlanta Washerwomen strike, which achieved racial solidarity as part of its movement. Historically, Boris says, women who were considered the consumers of the goods supported the [striking] workers in past U.S. disputes a pattern that is also playing out as the WNBPA continues to receive broad support from female fans. Those past movements are not dissimilar to what the players of the WNBA face now, and one key to success will be garnering and retaining mass public support for the fight. Contentious negotiations The players are demanding what they feel is fair, author and cohost of The Womens Hoop Show podcast Jordan Robinson explained to Fast Company. And I believe that the players feel like they maybe settled [for less than they deserved] in their last CBA negotiation with the hope of the league growing down the line. Now? That growth happened way faster and way sooner than a lot of the players probably were thinking. That growth is owed in large part to Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, as well as Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, and these new rookies coming in bringing a lot of fans from college, and a lot of eyes, attention, and dollars, Robinson says. Under the current agreement, a rookie drafted in the top four spots in 2025 makes $78,831 this year. But Clark, who is responsible for 26.5% of WNBA revenue all by herself, signed a contract that began at $76,535 annually when she was drafted as the number-one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. ESPN reported this week that the WNBA has proposed increasing the max salary as part of the current negotiations. But why are some of the leagues best players making less than $80,000 a year, especially in a league that landed a $2.2 bilion media rights deal in July 2024? The answer might be hiding behind what increasingly appears to be a toxic storm brewing within the league itself. Collier hinted at league-wide dysfunction and unrest in her statement, and in an interview with Glamour published October 28, she took things a step further. We are being so grossly almost taken advantage of, and it should be illegal, she insisted. The amount of money that Caitlin Clark has made the league is insane, and shes getting 0% of it because we have no rev share. She gets less than $80,000 a year, and shes bringing in, like, hundreds of millions of dollars. Its insane. As Boris put it, the general public does not look at these workers as workers. They don’t see the working conditions. They don’t see the kind of bullying that might be taking place and the hierarchies behind the scenes. Its a big problem, she says. Like generations of women who have spearheaded labor disputes in the past, from the New York shirt waist strike of 1909 (which fought for better pay and hours, safer, more humane conditions) to a 2022 strike against Kroger (around wages and COVID-era safety at work), the players have to prove their own humanity to garner support. Workers in other industries have been forced to take drastic measures to get their needs met, too: there were the dual SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America (WGA) Hollywood strikes in 2023, or what may unfold in West Virginia if coal miners struggling with black lung disease arent adequately responded to. A WNBA spokesperson noted on October 28 that the league urges the Players Association to spend less time disseminating public misinformation and more time joining us in constructive engagement. But when toxicity feels as if its baked into the culture of the job, what options do any workers have but to fight for what they believe they deserve? ‘Self-sabotage’ for the organization Like these labor disputes of the past, WNBA players are pushing for the same goals so many workers everywhere want: higher pay, increased benefits, and protection from occupational hazards, like injuries on the court. As Collier also said, Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage. As we should have learned by now, it doesnt typically pay to devalue workers and continue with toxic conditions. Over time, that erodes an organization from the inside out, something that has been demonstrated throughout the history of work in the United States. When it comes to the WNBA, the concerns are a little more physical and personal. Injuries are part of the game, and perhaps no one knows this better than Collier herself. The 29-year-old forward suffered at least two at crucial moments this season alone: she missed several games due to a sprained ankle, a reality that could have cost her the coveted MVP crown this season. But playersworkersfeel within their rights to challenge any circumstances in which they dont feel safe. Many of the great labor advances in this country started exactly that way. This is not only for us Though it may feel obvious to those watching the WNBA and CBA negotiations closely that players are making demands that are reasonable when considering what they bring to the league, the path ahead of them is still very hard, Boris says. All workers have to get as high of a salary as you can during your prime when youre working, she explains. The success of negotiations will depend in part on how public they are. One strategy which is really useful is having workers give testimony about working conditions or being forced to play, and [being] forced to practice with injuries or lack of sick days or family accommodation. To that end, it seems thats what some players have had in mind: In addition to Collier, plenty of WNBA superstars, including four-time MVP Aja Wilson and the Indiana Fevers Sophie Cunningham, have made it clear where they stand on the issue and that they are willing to fight tooth and nail. Thats necessary because the stakes are just so high, Boris says. And like the historic, women-led labor movements in the past, the outcome wont just affect the women currently playing in the league. When asked about the perception that WNBA leadership is not pro-player, Seattle Storm guard Lexie Brown tells Fast Company: I think it runs deep. I think its been this way for a long time, and I think its getting to the point where we just finally have the leverage. WNBA players have other opportunities, she points out, like AU Pro Basketball, the womens professional league that will kick off its fifth season in Nashville in February. The new Player B league in Europe and Asia also promises higher pay than the WNBA does. Such leagues afford players the money to potentially not have a [WNBA] season, she explains. None of us want that to happen, but I think its just been a build up over years and years, and we have to stand on business when it comes to this. The leagues players are fighting this fight for those who came before them: the players who continued to show up to work, every single year, despite the conditions, despite not having facilities, despite flying commercial, sharing hotel rooms, she says. Theyre also fighting for all the little girls out there that want to be in the WNBA. This is not only for us, Brown added. Its for everybody in the future.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||