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The Affordable Care Act marketplace officially opened for business in most states Sunday. It’s one place where millions of Americans will see double-digit hikes in their health care premiums, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.
Premiums on federal and state-run marketplaces will typically jump by about 15 percent next year, according to The Post’s analysis of proposed and finalized insurance rates. Health policy nonprofit KFF estimated an average premium hike of 13 percent based on finalized rates.
This marks the second straight year of double-digit rate increases and comes as Americans say the cost of living is one of their top issues heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections. Some of the biggest premium changes are expected to hit much of Arizona, New Mexico and Montana, where the average increases will be more than 20 percent.
For many enrollees across the country, subsidies will help blunt the full effect of the increases. But the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits last year has led to declining enrollment.
See what health insurance costs are going to look like in your area by exploring our interactive graphics.
The first atmospheric river to hit the Southwest this season dumped up to five times the average rain for November in parts of the region, triggering destructive flooding for the second consecutive month.
Late Sunday, 15 waterways across northern Arizona and southwestern Colorado either reached or were forecast to reach major flood stage, triggering evacuations and washing out roads.
That included the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where a historic crest of over 22 feet was forecast Sunday night.
“To put the forecast into perspective, during the devastating 1911 flood that wiped out most of what existed as the town of Pagosa at that time, the San Juan River crested at approximately 17.8 feet,” wrote the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.
Instead, the river crested at 16.81 feet — a welcome bit of good news on an otherwise chaotic weather day.
South of Sedona, Arizona, Oak Creek reached a historic crest of 19.84 feet. An estimated 150 to 200 homes flooded in nearby Rimrock and Lake Montezuma.
Climate scientist Daniel Swain wrote that many people have been asking whether the extreme rainfall is helping ease the Colorado Basin water crisis.
“The answer is complicated,” Swain wrote, pointing to the serious costs of historic flooding but also sharp rises in Lake Powell, which remains 13 feet lower than at this time last year.
As of Saturday, Lake Powell storage capacity was about 23.7 percent. It has increased by 3.5 percent since a 20.2 percent minimum in mid-September, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Parts the Southwest have a much higher than normal risk for extreme rainfall this winter because of a record El Niño in the Pacific Ocean, with more flooding possible in the months ahead.
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President Donald Trump said he spoke Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran as the president weighs up a return to all-out war after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“Just had a very good talk with him; we had a very good talk,” Trump told reporters Sunday. He confirmed they discussed Iran but gave no further details.
He told a rally in Iowa on Sunday that “the only reason why I’m not finished with Iran is I want to be nice. I want to try and save all those lives if I can.”
“But at some point we’re going to have to give them the hammer,” he added.
His remarks in the lead-up to the midterms have heightened concerns across the Persian Gulf that strikes against Iran will soon resume. Iranian negotiators met with Qatari mediators over the weekend for talks on ending the war.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that Tehran had put forward a proposal but that the “ball is in America’s court,” the Mehr news agency reported.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Iran “remains simultaneously ready for defense and diplomacy, and which path the Americans choose depends on their rationality,” according to Iranian media.
KYIV — Russia and Ukraine both said their emergency alert apps were hacked late Sunday night, when false alarms — including a nuclear warning — were issued to residents, sparking confusion.
Shortly before 11 p.m. local time, one of Ukraine’s main air raid apps issued its highest level of warnings nationwide, with additional warnings of radiation, chemical attacks and street fighting. “Radiation threat. Radiation threat declared in Kyiv,” read one alert.
Ukrainian officials scrambled to make sense of the warnings, quickly flagging that the system had probably been compromised.
Russian hackers later claimed responsibility for the intrusion, saying that they had sent a malicious file to an administrator, which he then downloaded. The Hitcore group told Russian outlet Mash that it gained access to the alert system through the employee’s computer.
The hack did not affect the operations of Ukraine’s security and defense forces, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said during a TV broadcast Monday.
A few hours after the Ukraine hack, users of the Russian emergencies ministry app received false warnings about nuclear warheads being launched. Russian authorities said the app had been subjected to “a massive cyberattack,” which sent “fake information to the public.”
They said the attack did not affect the main alert system, which involves sirens and SMS, television and radio warnings.
The Israeli army Monday withdrew from areas of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, officials said, following a military operation that displaced thousands of Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the operation on Oct. 23, after an attack by two Palestinian gunmen that killed two Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military informed Palestinian authorities early Monday that it had withdrawn from western areas of the city, Hebron Mayor Yousef Al Jabari told The Washington Post. He said about 3,300 displaced people had returned to their homes, adding that five commercial facilities and three homes — including two belonging to the attackers — were destroyed.
An Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media or to discuss sensitive operational matters, also confirmed the withdrawal.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk last week condemned the operation, which he said had confined many to their homes and neighborhoods. “Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law,” he said in a statement.
More than a half-century and well over 10,000 NFL games had passed since a team last won without completing a pass.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers somehow did it Sunday — and still won by 16 points.
With quarterback Baker Mayfield going 0 for 3 passing, Tampa Bay beat the Atlanta Falcons, 16-0, producing one of the NFL’s strangest box scores in decades — and winning a game in a manner that had essentially disappeared from modern football.
The last team to win without completing a pass was Buffalo on Sept. 29, 1974, when quarterback Joe Ferguson went 0 for 2 in a 16-12 victory over the New York Jets. Until Sunday, it had been the only game in the Super Bowl era in which a team failed to complete a pass.
The circumstances Sunday were hardly conducive to throwing. A driving rain soaked Raymond James Stadium for much of the afternoon, and the Buccaneers abandoned any pretense of a passing attack.
Instead, they ran. And ran. And then ran some more.
Tampa Bay rushed 56 times for a franchise-record 324 yards. Bucky Irving had 170 yards and the game’s only touchdown on 27 carries, while Kenny Gainwell added 140 yards on 25 carries.
Mayfield attempted two passes in the first quarter, none in the second and one early in the third. For the final 28-plus minutes, Tampa Bay didn’t bother throwing at all. Because Mayfield was sacked once, Tampa Bay officially finished with minus-2 net passing yards on the day.
Mayfield still found a way to contribute without throwing. On a 28-yard Gainwell run, he raced downfield, blocked Atlanta safety Jessie Bates III and wound up splashing into a puddle.
“If I’m not going to throw the ball, I have to get active somehow,” Mayfield said. “Me and Jessie were out there playing in mud.”
Atlanta, meanwhile, attempted 24 passes. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed eight of them to Falcons receivers — and four to Buccaneers defenders. Tampa Bay intercepted Penix four times while its own receivers went the entire afternoon without catching a single football.
Mayfield emerged with a quarterback stat line that would have looked peculiar even in football’s leather-helmet era. But his offensive linemen found at least one part of his performance worth praising.
“He hands off a mean ball,” guard Luke Goedeke said.
The Internal Revenue Service late last week sent a mass email praising President Donald Trump’s tax cuts — a message similar to one sent in the closing days of October by the Social Security Administration.
“Hardworking Americans like you are keeping more of what they earn because of President Trump’s historic tax cuts,” IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano wrote in an email reviewed by The Washington Post and dated Thursday.
The email touted “a new era of tax relief,” saying that millions of eligible Americans took advantage of the Working Families Tax Cuts, including tax breaks for senior citizens and workers who earn overtime pay.
Also late last week, emails were sent by the SSA to people with online Social Security accounts. The SSA message said that under Trump, the Social Security agency was “transforming into a model of excellence.” It was signed by Bisignano, who holds both roles as IRS chief executive and Social Security Administration commissioner.
Both of Bisignano’s emails prompted online complaints from people who viewed them as blatantly political messages from agencies that are supposed to be nonpartisan.
The IRS did not immediately respond to request for comment about the timing of and rationale behind sending the email.
The post Israeli military withdraws from West Bank city of Hebron after 10-day operation appeared first on Washington Post.
