Current Events in June 2017

If you seek medical treatment at a hospital emergency room, you're likely to be overcharged, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

Your chances of being overcharged are even greater if you are a racial minority or are uninsured.

The researchers say they looked at the billing records for more than 12,000 ER doctors across the U.S. and found charges varied widely. Using what Medicare allows as a baseline, their study found on average that adult patients are charged 340% more than what Medicare pays.

The Medicare allowable is the total of what Medicare pays, the deductible and coinsurance that patients pay, and the amount any third party pays. Martin Makary, M.D., M.P.H., and professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says there are not only "massive disparities" in cost, but the price gouging is worst for the most vulnerable populations.

'Huge disparities in health care'

“This study adds to the growing pile of evidence that to address the huge disparities in health care, health care pricing needs to be fairer and more transparent,” said Makary, who adds ER patients pay more, whether it is for suturing a wound or interpreting a head CT scan.

Again, using what Medicare pays as a baseline, the researchers calculated each hospital's mark-up ratio -- how much more they charged than what Medicare allows. A mark-up ratio of 4.0 means if Medicare allows $100, the hospital charged $400.

The Johns Hopkins researchers said they found hospital ERs have a mark-up ratio ranging from 1.0 to 12.6. The average mark-up was 4.4.

Seek non-emergency treatment elsewhere

If these numbers are correct, the take-away for consumers is to avoid treatment at a hospital ER unless it is an actual emergency. Seeking treatment for the flu, or minor ailment, could be overly expensive.

For example, the study found the mark-up charged by internal medicine physicians was about half of what a doctor in the ER charges. Debt.org, a publication focused on medical debt, advises consumers to seek non-emergency treatment at urgent care centers rather than ERs, saying "urgent care centers are far better for time and cost."

The Hopkins study also found mark-ups tended to be higher in for-profit hospitals in the Southeastern and Midwestern states, especially those that served higher populations of uninsured, African-American, and Hispanic patients.

Tim Xu, the study's first author, says the solution probably lies in state and federal legislation to protect patients. For example, he says New York has passed a law requiring hospitals and insurance companies to agree on a cost for the care so patients are not billed excessive amounts.

"Patients really have no way of protecting themselves from these pricing practices,” Xu said.

In the battle of retail dominance, Walmart figures it has one thing Amazon doesn't -- lots of stores and even more employees.

CEO Marc Lore says the company plans to leverage that advantage, announcing a plan for online orders to be delivered by Walmart store associates on their way home from work. The idea is to get packages delivered to customers sooner and cheaper.

Writing in the company blog, Lore says the system could cut shipping costs and get packages delivered faster, creating a win-win for both customers and associates, who will be paid extra if they volunteer to participate.

"It just makes sense," Lore writes. "We already have trucks moving orders from fulfillment centers to stores for pickup. Those same trucks could be used to bring ship-to-home orders to a store close to their final destination, where a participating associate can sign up to deliver them to the customer’s house. The best part is this gives our own associates a way to earn extra income on their existing drive home."

Lore makes clear that associates are not required to become delivery personnel on their commute home. If they choose to "opt in," he says the company has developed technology to allow personnel to set preferences to select how many packages they deliver, the size and weight limits, and the days when they are available to make deliveries.

Cutting 'last mile' delivery costs

Lore points out that Walmart has 4,700 stores in the U.S. and more than one million associates. Estimates show that there is a Walmart store within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population. This unusual delivery system, he says, cuts costs on the "last mile" of the delivery process, the most expensive part, that is currently filled by commercial delivery firms like Fed Ex and UPS.

It might be a while, though, before someone in a blue vest drops off a package at your door. Lore says the idea is being tested in just three stores -- two in New Jersey and one in Northwest Arkansas.

The move follows a Walmart plan to boost its online sales, in response to Amazon's growing dominance in that space. The company has already offered discounts on numerous items if they are purchased online.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a public warning to consumers who keep backyard flocks of live poultry, saying that the birds have contributed to eight outbreaks of Salmonella that have spread across 47 states so far this year.

The agency says it has tied 372 Salmonella infections to backyard flocks, and that the number is likely to grow in the coming months.

“Many people continue to purchase live poultry and continue to be exposed to Salmonella germs as they tend to their backyard flocks. Some of these birds can have a long life expectancy,” the agency said.

Taking preventative measures

Of the 372 infection cases, the CDC says that 36% were experienced by children under the age of 5. Seventy-one cases resulted in symptoms that were so severe that they warranted hospitalization. In these cases, contact with live poultry constituted any interaction with chickens, ducks, or geese, which may have come from several different hatcheries.

The CDC has connected eight different types of Salmonella to the outbreaks, but officials say that taking preventative measures can lower the risk of infection. They include:

• Washing your hands after handling any live poultry;
• Not allowing live chickens, ducks, or geese in the house, especially in the kitchen;
• Not allowing children under the age of 5 to handle or touch live poultry or eggs without supervision; and
• Not eating or drinking near the birds or allowing them near your face or mouth.

If you or someone you know has had contact with any live poultry and are showing symptoms of Salmonella infection – which include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps – you should seek medical help right away. Salmonella infection, otherwise known as salmonellosis, usually lasts anywhere from 4-7 days and is usually not fatal; however, in some cases dehydration can become so bad that it becomes life-threatening.

To learn more about the outbreaks and for more tips on how to stay safe, consumers can visit the CDC’s site here.

Back in April, Payless ShoeSource filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to reorganize its business and return to profitability. Unfortunately, the company’s announced that part of that effort would involve closing many of its stores across the U.S.

“This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify…We will build a stronger Payless for our customers, vendors and suppliers, associates, business partners and other stakeholders though this process,” said CEO Paul Jones at the time.

Now it seems the company has decided on which locations will definitely be shutting down in its second wave of closings. According to court papers, the company has asked permission to close down 112 of its stores outright and will possibly close another 296 locations if it cannot reach an agreement with landlords to lower rent prices. However, company officials are hopeful that they will be able to work out a deal.

“We remain hopeful…negotiations will result in consensual modifications and rent concessions with respect to these additional stores and that many of the 296 will remain open,” spokeswoman said in a statement to Fortune.

The company has already made some inroads towards reducing its overall debt; according to a Wall Street Journal report, Payless has already made a deal with its lenders to reduce its $838 million in funded debt by 40% by offering equity stakes in the company and promising “significant recoveries.”

The company says it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in August.

Anyone who visited the Standing Rock Sioux's anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protest encampment in November or December, when newcomers caused the population at the makeshift city to swell to as many as 10,000 people, would be met with a warning from the "water protectors" and other activists who had been there from the beginning: the government is watching you.

Now a file of newly leaked documents published by The Intercept confirms what the activists had suspected all along. TigerSwan, a private security firm that has previously worked as a contractor for the United States government, used “military-style counterterrorism measures” to monitor the Sioux’s peaceful and largely prayer-driven protest against the pipeline.

TigerSwan’s services were retained by Energy Transfer Partners, a Fortune 500 oil and gas transmission company that is aggressively trying to add new projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline to its portfolio. The spate of new pipeline projects being built across the United States, all promising inexpensive and more efficient delivery of oil and gas, undermines attempts to halt climate change and locks the United States economy into further dependency on fossil fuels, environmentalists and some lawmakers argue. 

The Dakota Access Pipeline route in particular falls under a lake that supplies the Standing Rock Sioux with their water and feeds into the Missouri River, raising concerns about contaminating the water supply should the pipeline ever leak. Even now, barely in operation, the Dakota Access Pipeline has already leaked in two spots. Vicki Granado, spokesman for Energy Transfer Partners, responded to news reports about the leaks by distancing the company from the very same contractors they had hired.  

"They are responsible for the operations, maintenance, etc.," Granado told the news media.

Native American prayer and protest compared to Jihad

For the Standing Rock Sioux, the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline was both environmental and spiritual, ignited in part by a Sioux legend about a “black snake” that wreaked havoc on sacred land. The prayer and resistance encampment that the Standing Rock Sioux began in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline last August grew into something bigger than anyone imagined, drawing people from all over the world and American Indians from all nations. The camp, as visitors were told by volunteer security guards and other organizers, should be peaceful and treated as a place of sacred prayer. 

But for TigerSwan, that combination of religious ideology and protest apparently was reason enough to draw comparisons between the protesters and war-torn Afghanistan.  

In one report, TigerSwan claimed that the water protectors “generally followed the jihadist insurgency model while active, we can expect the individuals who fought for and supported it to follow a post-insurgency model after its collapse.” In another report using language more fitting for a war zone than a peaceful protest, TigerSwan writes that “aggressive intelligence preparation of the battlefield and active coordination between intelligence and security elements are now a proven method of defeating pipeline insurgencies.”

The prosecution of protesters 

A pick-up truck with no license plates charged toward the larger anti-pipeline camp on October 28, nearly hitting pedestrians who were walking along the road, according to witnesses interviewed afterward. A volunteer guarding Oceti Sakowin, as the camp was called, said he caught a glimpse of an AR-15 inside the plateless truck and unsuccessfully tried to reach his hand inside to grab it. That set off a tense car chase, with at least two protesters going after the truck with their own vehicles.

Witnesses later told reporters that one of the protesters, trying to stop the truck from entering camp, purposefully hit it from the side to force the vehicle off the road. Footage then captured shortly after the chase shows a man standing in a lake, wielding an AR-15 rifle and pointing it at people nearby. Another man, dressed in a fur hat, talks to the gun-wielder, and appears to persuade him to back away and to stop pointing the weapon at people. A voice in the background is heard urging someone to call the police. 

Police with the Bureau of Indian Affairs eventual came and arrested Kyle Thompson, allegedly the driver behind the wheel of the plateless truck and the man seen holding the AR-15.  It turned out that Thompson was a security guard, working for a firm hired by Energy Transfer Partners. 

The BIA turned the case over to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, which subsequently declined to press charges against Thompson, though he was later charged with domestic violence over a separate incident. 

Instead, over a month after the truck chase and gun incident, it was Thompson who became the victim in the eyes of law enforcement. The Morton County Sheriff's Department decided to charge the protesters who allegedly ran Thompson off the road with felony reckless endangerment. And Pueblo water protector Brennon Nastacio, the man captured wearing a fur hat and persuading Thompson to stop pointing his AR-15 at people, was charged with felony terrorizing, a federal crime. Thompson had later told police that Nastacio and other protesters caused him to fear for his life that day and that they were armed with knives during the confrontation.

It was just one example of the many arrests, crackdowns using "non-lethal force" and other aggressive tactics police used against those taking part in the protest, leading the water protectors to create their own nickname for police of "oil protectors."

In response, authorities have denied that they were working in the interest of Energy Transfer Partners. The state of North Dakota even launched a site specifically to dispel this and similar “myths” about the Dakota Access Pipeline, writing that there is no merit to the claim that Morton County received money directly from Energy Transfer Partners to protect company equipment.  

“Fact: Morton County and the State of North Dakota, through the various involved agencies, is paying for the protest response,” the site writes. “Ultimately, the expenses associated with the protests fall squarely on the taxpayers of North Dakota.”

But the leaked TigerSwan documents provide proof of a close relationship between Energy Transfer Partners and law enforcement. TigerSwan has collected information about the anti-DAPL camps and about individual protesters, the Intercept report found. TigerSwan then distributed that information to police agencies in at least five states. One leaked report from September 14, 2016, for example, indicates that TigerSwan met with representatives from the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation “regarding video and still photo evidence collected for prosecution.” Notes from the meeting add that TigerSwan workers “continue building Person of Interest (POI) folders and coordination with [law enforcement] intelligence.”

Police confirm using TigerSwan

In statements to the Intercept, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that the agency “did maintain communication with TigerSwan security in order to understand when and where DAPL construction activities were taking place” and to gain “situational awareness in order to monitor and respond to illegal protest activity.” 

Energy Transfer Partners, meanwhile, declined to comment, telling the site that they do not “discuss details of our security efforts.”

DAPL helicopters help police make federal case against protesters

Public court documents from the law enforcement side have similarly shown that information gathered by Dakota Access Pipeline workers was later used to make arrests of protesters. Late last year, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department put out a warrant and a “Wanted” poster for Michael Markus, a water protector known as Rattler, who had a popular Facebook page documenting daily happenings at the camp. The charges that the “Wanted” poster described were vague, and this "Wanted" poster, like the many others that Morton County has published against those taking part in the protest, used photographs taken directly from the suspect's Facebook page.

It was a federal affidavit later filed by the Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that laid out the specifics of what Markus was wanted for; he allegedly was part of a group that poured gasoline onto a makeshift barricade and set it on fire to deter law enforcement from raiding the camp in late October. Authorities said they deployed firefighters to put out the blaze.

Afterward, the feds apparently received some information from Energy Transfer Partners, who had been monitoring the scene from a private helicopter. 

“While law enforcement was conducting their operation,” says an affidavit signed by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent Derek Hill, “a helicopter that was being utilized by the Dakota Access Pipeline was monitoring the situation from the air. A passenger in the helicopter was utilizing a digital camera to document the operation and these digital photos were provided to law enforcement….Upon reviewing the digital photos, I was able to identify several individuals pouring what is believed to be gasoline on the barricades,” Hill writes, with Markus and others allegedly captured in the phtograph and now facing federal charges.

Five people in total are currently facing federal charges in relation to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, with their trial dates pending.

The beginning of June is often thought of as the start of summer, but for many consumers it also marks the primetime of wedding season. While this may be exciting for couples who are looking forward to exchanging vows, all the festivities can get pretty expensive if you received a couple of save-the-dates.

Between expenses for traveling, lodging, and suit and dress purchases, loved ones can often spend hundreds of dollars before the “I do’s” are even exchanged. This can create a lot of tension for guests who might also agonize over how much money to give or spend on a gift.

While it may not help your wallet in the long run, a CNBC report shows that the average cash gift for a bride and groom was $160, according to statistics collected by wedding-registry website Tendr. Wedding gift amounts tended to fluctuate a little more, but findings showed that they tended to spike during the prime summer wedding season.

Give what you can afford

While the thought of spending hundreds on a gift may be shocking to some, a Bankrate.com study found that gift amounts tended to vary widely between different regions of the U.S. Researchers say that wedding guests in the Northeast gave the most, with 38% of respondents saying that the typical gift was at least $200.

The study also found that 21% of wedding invitations were declined because respondents said that they felt they couldn’t afford to go. While it may be a shame to miss an event, Bankrate.com’s Cashlorette Sarah Berger says that consumers shouldn’t break the bank to go to a wedding they can’t afford.

“Wedding traditions differ greatly from region to region, and so do gift-giving tendencies. Invitations usually go out months before the big day, so start budgeting early. However, if you simply can’t afford to go, be financially responsible and skip the event. No soiree is wroth sacrificing all of your savings,” she said.

Berger says that another solution is giving a group gift or simply giving what you’re comfortable with.

“In terms of how much you should give, whatever you think is appropriate and can realistically afford is what you should go for,” she said.

A government report finds that EpiPen manufacturer Mylan NV may have overcharged U.S. taxpayers more than $1.2 billion over the last decade by misclassifying the allergy rescue device as a generic rather than a brand-name product, echoing a claim made by some lawmakers last October. 

The latest estimate comes from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General, which said that by misclassifying the auto-injection device, Mylan effectively shortchanged the Medicaid program.

Under Medicaid, makers of brand-name drugs must provide deep discounts on their products. In October, Mylan said it reached a settlement with the U.S. to pay $465 million for misclassifying the drug as a generic product, which doesn’t require the same discounts. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Ia.) has said the October settlement was too small.

"The fact that the EpiPen overpayment is so much more than anyone discussed publicly should worry every taxpayer," Grassley said in a statement. "Mylan and the Obama Administration reportedly were close to settling the overpayment for much less than $1.27 billion. CMS recently provided records to the Committee that show Mylan was made aware of the misclassification years ago but did nothing."

Grassley charged that "Mylan overcharged the taxpayers for years with the knowledge EpiPen was misclassified, and the previous administration was willing to let the company off the hook."

A Mylan spokeswoman said the company would "continue to work with the government to finalize the settlement as soon as possible.”

Back in February, Waze announced that it would be expanding tests of its ride-sharing app to several U.S. cities. And now, after a series of successful tests in the San Francisco Bay area and its home country of Israel, the company says it will be rolling out its service to consumers throughout California.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Waze’s carpooling app will be available to California travelers on June 6. Passengers who are looking to carpool with drivers going in the same direction can download the app, called “Waze Carpool,” to request a ride.

Although it hasn’t released any test data in the last year, the company says that the app has been “thriving” in its test markets and is ready for the California rollout. Although Waze does not currently take a commission of rides scheduled on its app – a major departure from other ride-sharing apps that has driven down costs – Waze’s head of carpool Josh Fried says that might change over time.

“In the future when we think the service is operating at a quality that warrants a commission, we’ll add a commission,” he said.

Cheaper than other services

Despite the prospect of future commissions, one of the main drawing points for Waze Carpool is that it is much cheaper than other ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. The company boasts that riders pay no more than the IRS’ mileage reimbursement rate of 54 cents per mile, and all of that money currently goes to the driver.

The service also takes a much looser stance when it comes to its drivers, saying that they are not employees or private contractors. Because users of the app are only looking for travelers going in the same direction, drivers currently don’t need a commercial car license to pick up passengers.

Drivers also don’t need to jump through too many hoops to start making money. There’s still a measure of safety for passengers since drivers can upload a photo of themselves to the app and can be rated, endorsed, and judged by past passengers, but Waze does not require a background check.

“In terms of vetting drivers, they’re not our employees or independent contractors. They’re regular, everyday drivers,” explained Fried.

Not an on-demand service

Waze Carpool also differs from other ride-sharing services in that it is not intended to offer a ride-on-demand service. Users looking for an instant ride could luck out if there is a driver available in their area going in the same direction, but reports suggest that it is better to request a ride hours, or even days, in advance to have a better shot of being picked up. Anyone who has the Waze app can sign up to be a driver.

Waze says that its app is committed to fighting traffic by reducing the number of cars on the road, and that it looks forward to providing its service to Californians.

“No longer will Californians be held captive by their horrific commute…Join us in working to together to fight daily traffic, improve our commute, help protect the environment and save a little money,” the company said in a blog post.

For the airlines, the world changed on April 9, 2017.

That's when United Airlines summoned Chicago airport police to forcibly remove a passenger on a Louisville bound flight after he refused to give up his seat to a United employee. Video of the incident was recorded by numerous passengers, sparking world-wide outrage.

Since then airlines have been subjected to intense scrutiny by passengers, fed up with the often unpleasant rigors of today's commercial air travel. Every encounter, it seems, is now recorded on smartphones and Tweeted around the world.

Though not every incident ends up in court, some do. The latest is a complaint filed against Delta Airlines by a passenger who says he was assaulted by members of a Delta flight crew during a flight from Atlanta to Palm Springs, Calif., two years ago.

Alleges assault and battery

Courthouse News, which obtained a copy of the complaint, reports Atef Bandary is seeking damages for assault and battery, emotional distress, and charges the airline with negligence. According to the 14-page document, this is what Bandary alleges:

During the flight, he says he asked a flight attendant for some water and a light snack, because he needed to take medication that required it to be taken with food. Bandary said the request was denied.

Bandary, who says he is HIV positive, took the medication without food and says that caused a case of diarrhea. He says when he got up to go to the lavatory, a flight attendant ordered him to sit down. He says he explained the situation -- including the fact that he is HIV positive -- to no avail.

Forcibly restrained

When he insisted he must use the toilet, he says the flight attendant notified the captain, who enlisted a fellow passenger who was a law enforcement officer, to forcibly restrain him, in the process injuring his shoulder.

Adding insult to injury, he says during the altercation his pants fell down around his ankles and, despite his pleas, those subduing him refused to pull up his pants.

Delta later pressed charges against Bandary and he was indicted on criminal charges of interfering with a flight crew member. After hiring a lawyer, he says the jury acquitted him.

In his suit against the airline, Bandary also charges the airline targeted him because he is a naturalized citizen, is gay, and because he had complained about the service on the flight.

Bandary does not specify the monetary damages he seeks. Rather, he says he wants the court to determine the amount, should it find in his favor.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a list of the most dangerous superbugs – which are diseases and infections that have developed a resistance to antibiotics used to treat them. The organization split the pathogens into critical, high, and medium priorities with the hope that researchers would focus on efforts to create better vaccines for them.

Now, a group of U.S. scientists from the Scripps Institute have re-engineered an older vaccine to fight one of the deadliest superbugs, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). This bacterium is often found in hospitals and can fatally infect patients’ bloodstreams.

As the name suggests, VRE is resistant to vancomycin, a drug that has been used for over 60 years. However, researchers say the newest version of the antibiotic they’re testing is over 1,000 times more potent and may be available within the next five years.

“Resistance to such an antibiotic would be very difficult to emerge,” said lead researcher Dr. Dale Boger.

Multiple forms of attack

The Scripps team set out to improve vancomycin to restore its ability to kill VRE. To do that, Boger explains that the researchers had to change the drug at the molecular level to give it more ways to attack harmful bacteria.

“We made one change to the molecule vancomycin that overcomes what is the present resistance to vancomycin. And then we added to the molecule, two small changes that built into the molecule, two additional ways in which it can kill bacteria,” he said. “So the antibiotic has three different, we call them ‘mechanisms,’ by which it kills bacteria…So it’s a molecule designed specifically to address the emergence of resistance.”

Boger goes on to explain that it is very difficult for bacteria to survive from such an attack because even if it comes up with a way to resist one mechanism, it will still die from the other two. Although it has not yet been tested on human or animal models, the researchers believe that it could be the solution to fighting off VRE. Following this model for future antibiotics may also help fight off other types superbugs as well.

“Doctors could use this modified form of vancomycin without fear of resistance emerging,” said Boger. “This development could be hugely important,” added Dr. Nigel Brown of the Microbiology Society.

The full study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Bicycles are all the rage these days, but look closely and there's a hidden cost to this supposedly low-impact way of getting around. A study by UC San Francisco finds medical costs from non-fatal bike accidents are climbing steeply, by nearly $790 million annually.

Whereas bicycle accidents used to mostly involve kids falling off their bikes, they now include a lot of adults colliding with cars, producing much more serious injuries, said lead author Thomas W. Gaither, a UCSF medical student. 

"In the past, many bicycle accidents stemmed from non-street incidents. But now, street crashes with motor vehicles represent a greater proportion of the total costs," Gaither said. "These crashes, which primarily occur with motor vehicles, increase the velocity of the crash impact and, as a result, the severity of the injury."

In 2013 alone, total costs from bicycle accidents exceeded $24.4 billion, the researchers reported. That is approximately double the medical and other various costs involved for all occupational illnesses over the same time period.

There were 3.8 million non-fatal adult bicycle injuries and nearly 9,839 deaths that were reported during the study period from 1997 to 2013. Men accounted for three-quarters of the total costs.

The study will be published June 1, 2017, in the journal Injury Prevention.

Older riders at risk

Cycling has many well-documented health benefits, including improved cardiovascular function and decreased all-cause mortality. But along with the positive effects of riding, there are risks due to serious and sometimes life-threatening injuries, many involving accidents to riders 45 and older.

In 2013, nearly 54 percent of the total costs of bicycle accidents were due to riders 45 and older, up from 26 percent in 1997, the researchers reported.

Along with the fact that older adults are biking more and being more severely hurt, the rising severity of injuries may be due to changes in motor vehicle traffic, more commuting by bicycle, and changes in vehicle design, reported the researchers.

Previous research by the investigative team has shown that over the last 15 years in the U.S., the incidence of hospital admissions due to bike crashes increased by 120 percent.

The investigators calculated costs from a variety of factors, including hospital charges, readmissions, rehabilitation, nursing home stays, emergency transport, visits to the emergency department, days lost, cost of lost work, lifetime productivity lost, and lost quality of life.

Many of the injuries could be prevented with safer roads, the researchers said.

Home prices may still be rising, but mortgage interest rates are moving in the other direction, giving buyers a small break.

Bankrate reports rates are lower for the third straight month, with the average rate of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropping to the lowest level in more than six months. The average rate is 4.09% this week, the lowest since the middle of November.

Mortgage rates typically follow the rate on the Treasury's 10-year bond, and lately that rate has moved lower, even though the Federal Reserve has signaled that it plans to keep raising the Federal Funds Rate. The Federal Funds Rate has a big impact on the interest you pay on your credit card, but it has little to do with mortgages.

Bankrate notes that inflation has cooled, consumer spending has softened, and ongoing questions about a brewing White House scandal has created uncertainty among investors. All have combined to push bond rates lower.

Current rates

Bankrate reports the average 30-year mortgage rate dropped from 4.13% the previous week. It says the 15-year fixed rate mortgage rate is 3.31%, nearly flat with the previous week. The 5/1 ARM rate is 3.41%, also nearly the same as the week before.

At the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 4.09 percent, the monthly payment for a $200,000 loan is $965.24.

With interest rates still near historic lows, home sales should be surging but they aren't. The main reason for that is a lack of homes for sale, especially in cities with strong job markets. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sees no increase in inventory coming anytime soon.

Yun says homebuilders have not increased production and investors who bought foreclosures during the housing crisis, converting them to rentals, have shown no indication they plan to begin selling them. Until both situations change, he says, inventory levels are likely to remain tight.

Incentives and special financing deals often make new cars attractive, but you can't get away from the fact that new cars cost a lot.

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) reports the average transaction price (ATP) consumers paid for cars and light trucks in May was an estimated $33,261, up 2.6% from May 2016. But that doesn't mean the sticker price was more.

"Transaction prices continue to climb at a steady rate, driven by the weakening sales mix of cars which is estimated at 38% in May, down from 41% one year ago," said Tim Fleming, analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

Compact SUV's were big sellers last month. With sales increasing 2% over the previous May, dealers were sell willing to negotiate, resulting in a slightly higher ATP. But Fleming says that may be changing.

Signs of discounts

"There are signs of discounts in SUV segments that are growing quickly, including subcompact and luxury SUVs, which are likely helping to fuel those segments' double-digit sales growth this year," he said.

Fiat Chrysler vehicles saw the biggest ATP increase, rising nearly 6%. Ford was close behind at 5%. Hyundai-Kia's May ATP was unchanged from the year before.

New car sales have slowed down this year, creating more incentives. But consumers who want to save money are also taking a look at late model used cars.

Because of the growing popularity of leasing new cars, used car lots are packed with three year-old vehicles that have just come off a lease. Because there are so many, dealers were able to pay less for them at auction and are in a position to sell them for a little less.

Difficult to get rid of them

Since the lightly used cars are entering a market that favors trucks and SUVs, the prices will fall, Jim Lentz, Toyota North America CEO told USA Today. "It's more difficult to get rid of them," he says. "You're going to have very attractive certified used passenger car payments relative to new passenger cars."

For example, a 2013 Honda Accord LX sedan with 29,000 miles is listed at Carmax for $15,999. A new 2017 Honda Accord LX has a TrueCar price of $24,130.

Carfax reported that used car dealers were offering incentives in May, usually reserved for new cars, on a wide selection of late model used cars.

Automotive publisher Edmunds.com has called the current used car market "one of the strongest buyer's markets in recent memory." However, the glut of used cars is mostly confined to recent models.

If the car you're driving is more than six years old, Edmunds says it might be worth more than you think, because there's a shortage of used cars in the lower price range.