The Latest on Fort Hood
U.S. Army Sgt. Andrew Sobecky bows his head during a prayer service at First Baptist Church, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Killeen, Texas. (AP)
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The Army psychiatrist who allegedly killed 13 people is reportedly conscious and talking. We’ll have the latest from Texas with James McKinley of the New York Times.
Time to Choose Your Health Insurance at Work
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It’s open enrollment season at work and you might want to do yourself a favor and consider your options. Should you consider a health insurance plan with a high deductible? Can you save money by switching plans and still get good coverage? We speak with Lesley Alderman, a “Patient Money” columnist for the New York Times.
Fall of The Wall
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Germany is marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall today. The BBC’s Jamie Coomarasamy joins us from Berlin.
- Listen to montage from November 9, 1989
A Closer Look at Mohammed Atta
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Reporter Daniel Brook goes back to Mohammed Atta’s master’s thesis to see what it tells us about the architect and urban planner who crashed a plane into the World Trade Center. Atta wrote about a traditional neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria, parts of which had been destroyed and replaced by modernist architecture.
Orange, NJ Looks Back
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Have you walked by an old building and wondered about its past? Orange, New Jersey, is helping citizens learn about Orange’s past thanks to the Murmur audio project — which features audio recordings of people talking about old buildings and other landmarks. Similar programs are underway in Canada, Brazil, and Ireland. We speak with Khemani Gibson of Orange High School who worked on the project and with Molly Rose Kaufman, a community worker in the city.
Music from the show
- Air, “Mike Mills”
- Herbie Hancock, “Watermelon Man”
- Tito Puente, “Royal T”
- Fred Hirsch, “Desafinado”
- Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
- Rodrigo and Gabriella, “Logos”
- The Sadies, “The Mohawk”
Your story about employees having to scrutinize their health plans begs the question: doesn’t that just mean the insurers will lose profits and just raise their rates? That’s what they’ve been doing right along and it won’t stop by us being smarter about our choices. They simply will raise the rates to sustain their profits because they can. It’s what they’ve done all along and what they will do so long as the present system is in place. Even if this health care round fails to reform anything, these spiraling costs will just create another crisis in the future. The lid on the proverbial, boiling pot has to blow up eventually.
Posted by Stephen Graham, on November 9th, 2009 at 12:43 pmGood discussion of health insurance options but please clarify the difference between the healthcare savings account and the flexible SPENDING account to which Robin repeatedly referred as the flexible SAVINGS account, possibly leading to misunderstanding by listeners despite good explanation of both options.
Posted by Eileen Odell, on November 9th, 2009 at 1:34 pmThanks!
Regarding ‘use it or lose it’ pre-tax medical accounts. People should remember that they have a ‘marginal tax rate’. Even if you ‘lose’ some pre-tax money, if it is less than the tax you WOULD have paid on the money, you have ‘lost’ nothing.
For example, if you put in $5,000 and spend only $4,500 and your marginal tax rate is 28%, the tax you DIDN’T pay is $1,400. The ‘lost’ $500 is actually $900 in your pocket compared to not having the account at all.
You don’t want your spending to overshoot your marginal tax rate. At the VERY least, put in enough to cover medications you KNOW you will buy. Add in the minimum you know you will pay at the dentist, for vision care and any other ‘recurring’ medical expenses based on prior year expenses.
Posted by BHA, on November 9th, 2009 at 1:41 pmARRRGHHHH
Eileen you’re correct.
The health savings account is offered with many high deductible plans and rolls over.
The flexible SPENDING account does NOT roll over
(hence, it’s a spending rather than savings plan!)
you have to save receipts and carefully plan your health care to spend it all in one year.
Sorry!!! AND WE TRIED SO HARD!
Robin
Posted by Robin Young, on November 9th, 2009 at 3:56 pmGreat to here a story about Orange. It’s where I grew up and although I have not lived there for 10 years it brings back memories of the places described.
Posted by Anthony Dickerson, on November 9th, 2009 at 9:06 pm