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H-1B workers pay billions in taxes to fund programmes that benefit American citizens

Donald Trump, Medicare, News, trump, Trump administration

The Donald Trump administration has often blamed H-1B workers for stealing jobs from Americans. But this myopic view ignores how much these foreign workers contribute to the US economy.

As per a new study, an estimated three million H-1B visa holders contribute hundreds of billions to the US government programmes like social security and medicare—which they don’t even benefit from—and to local businesses and American companies.

The study, conducted by immigrant...

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California rolls back reopening plans as coronavirus cases climb – live

Donald Trump, News, Russia, US news, US politics

Jerome Powell, the new chair of the Federal Reserve, is slated to tell Congress tomorrow that the battle with Covid-19 and its economic fallout will be long and hard-fought.

“The path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on our success in containing the virus.” He adds: It’s “hard to capture in words” the lives upended.

On Monday the House passed in a vote of 234-179 the most significant expansion of the Affordable Care Act since its inception in 2010.

The vote for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act was largely symbolic as it is unlikely to pass in the Senate. Even if it did, Donald Trump would immediately veto it, the White House said on Monday.

The hours of debate before the vote allowed Democrats to point out, again and again, that the Trump administration is seeking to invalidate the ACA in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that was initiated by a group of Republican attorneys general who contend the entire law is unconstitutional.

“As lives are shattered by the coronavirus, the protections of the Affordable Care Act are more important now, more than ever,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Noting that both Trump and congressional Republicans promise to preserve the law’s protections for people with preexisting medical conditions, she said: “Oh really? Then why are you in the United States Supreme Court to overturn them?”

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How to handle your private health insurance – in one afternoon a year

health, News

If you turned 31 this year, you have until 1 July to avoid a fee loading on private health cover, but experts say there’s no need to panic-buy

Private health insurance in Australia is kind of an oxymoron. “Every Australian already has health insurance: Medicare,” says Uta Mihm of consumer advocacy group Choice.

So why does it exist here at all? Well, that’s the million dollar question. Firstly, it’s important to note that “health insurance” in Australia actually refers to two different types of cover: private hospital cover and extras cover. The former will pay for you to receive treatment in private hospitals, where you’ll stay in comfortable rooms and get shorter wait times for elective surgery. Extras cover is meant to reduce the cost of things like dental, optical and massage.

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