Current Events in July 2017

Your kids are likely the center of your universe -- and that shouldn’t change in the midst of a divorce.

Parents going through a divorce or separation need to make sure their children’s needs are put first, according to child custody expert Marlene Bizub.

In her book “Contentious Custody: Is It Really in the Best Interest of Your Children?”, Bizub draws from her own experience in order to provide pointers for parents looking to help their children adjust to the change.

Divorce can have a lasting impact on children, but there are a few things parents can do to make the change easier for kids to handle. Bizub offers the following tips for divorcing parents.

Curb negative talk

Conflict may be swirling between you and your soon-to-be ex partner, but try to keep negative talk under wraps in the presence of your kids.

Avoid speaking negatively about your child’s other parent, and make sure others also watch what they say around the kids. Since children derive their identify from the two of you, putting down the other parent is like putting down the child as well, says Bizub.

Let your kids be kids; refrain from exposing them to adult issues.

Be sensitive

When it comes to broaching the subject of divorce around your kids, sensitivity is key. Bizub says it’s crucial to be sensitive in the manner by which you introduce new significant others or stepparents into their lives.

“You might be on down the road from the separation mentally, but your children are not,” she said, adding that children also shouldn’t be used as messengers. Do not use your kids to relay messages or deliver child support payments to the other parent.

Additionally, be sensitive to the fact that your kids may try to manipulate the situation. “If they do not think the two of you will talk, you are creating an environment that is ripe for this type of manipulation,” said Bizub.

Provide reassurance

Provide reassurance to your children that both parents still love them. Do not make them feel as though they have to choose between the two of you. Allow them to express their love for both of you freely.

Finally, do not try to assume that you know how your children feel.

“Even if you are a child of divorce, every divorce situation is different and individuals respond differently,” Bizub said.

Many older consumers rely on home health care (HHC) services to provide extra help with everyday functions after they’ve been discharged from the hospital, but a recent study shows huge gaps in communication between these professionals, patients’ regular physicians, and hospitals.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus say that they found many discrepancies between medication lists, confusion over who was responsible for writing patient care orders, complaints of inaccessible hospital records, and resistance from clinicians and staff for accountability. And unfortunately, all of those factors wind up just hurting the patient.

"We found that communication breakdowns can have consequences for patients," said lead author Dr. Christine D. Jones. "These are some of our most fragile patients, most are over 65, and more seamless communication is needed."

Communications breakdown

Jones and her colleagues conducted six focus groups with HHC nurses to find out why so many problems exist between health care professionals. Many of them cited rules by their agencies that forbid contacting the hospital, while others said that many primary care physicians are unaware that their patients have been to the hospital at all.

"As a general rule, I've been told you're not to contact the hospitals. I actually got in trouble for contacting the hospital, trying to find out, get more information, trying to track a doctor down," one nurse said. "The communication between the hospital and the primary care providers is just as bad as it is for us because the PCP's don't have the information," added another.

The researchers say that other factors such as insurance stipulations and medication ordering procedures can bog things down and lead to confusion. The focus groups say that with so many doctors and specialists involved in the process, incorrect medications and amounts can be very common and detrimental to patient care.

"As hospitalists, we need to think about what happens beyond the hospital walls and how we can support our patients after discharge, especially when it comes to home health care patients who can be very vulnerable,” said Jones.

Possible solutions

As part of the study, the focus groups were asked to think of solutions that might open lines of communication and prevent confusion. Some of the ideas they came up with include:

• Having hospitals and primary care physicians provide HHC agencies with direct phonelines and access to Electronic Medical Records;
• Enacting laws that allow nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants to write HHC orders;
• Establishing clear accountability for hospital clinicians to manage HHC orders until the primary care physician can see the patient and help HHC nurses with questions; and
• Creating better communication methods with PCPs to ensure safer transitions.

"Our findings suggest that improvements to accountability and communication could address patient needs and goals, avoid medication discrepancies and ultimately improve safety for patients and HHC nurses," Jones said.

The full study has been published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

If you are buying a home, no doubt you have been saving for the down payment for a while. You will probably be paying between 3% or 20% of the purchase price up front.

But that's not all the money you'll be spending at closing. There are closing costs for both the buyer and the seller, with these costs covering all the expenses associated with the transaction. It's a good idea to get a handle on what these expenses might be and factor them into your home purchase.

Real estate marketplace Trulia breaks down closing costs into two categories -- recurring and non-recurring costs.

Recurring costs

One way to think of recurring costs is as a pre-payment, not necessarily an extra cost associated with the purchase of your home. Because the mortgage lender wants to be sure that critical recurring costs are paid, it collects some of them upfront at closing and deposits them into an escrow account.

Typically, the lender will collect money to pay a full year's premium for homeowner's insurance, plus another three or four months worth of payments. This is a cost you would pay anyway, you're just paying it in advance.

The same is true for property taxes. The lender will collect enough money to pre-pay several months of taxes on the home.

Then, when you begin making mortgage payments, a portion of the payment each month goes into the escrow account to keep both insurance and taxes up to date. As a homeowner, you don't have to worry about paying separate insurance and tax bills, which is a convenience. But you have to be able to pre-pay some of these expenses at settlement.

Non-recurring costs

Non-recurring costs include services performed by various third parties, as well as any fees the lender might charge. There are attorney's fees, filing fees, title search and title insurance, and fees for any other services that might be required for closing, such as an appraisal or a property survey.

A buyer's closing costs can vary, depending on the property and the jurisdiction where it is located. According to Trulia, costs can roughly range from 2% to 5% of the purchase price, which is a fairly wide range.

To help narrow it down a little more, Bank of America offers this closing cost calculator.

While many homebuyers choose to pay the closing costs upfront, along with the down payment, it isn't always required. Many lenders will allow you to roll at least a portion of the closing costs into the loan amount, just as long as you are able to still qualify for the increased amount of the loan.

Some people travel a lot and know the secrets to getting from point A to point B on time. This time of year, however, many infrequent travelers are in airports, and some may have made time-sensitive travel plans. They're meeting family for a special occasion or boarding a cruise ship for a week-long vacation.

If air travel is involved, it means arriving at your destination on time. This time of year weather -- in the form of thunderstorms -- can be be an issue and so can overbooked airplanes.

"Time to spare, go by air," is the chant of seasoned travelers and it's worth heeding by infrequent tourists.

Maybe you remember what happened back in April when Dr. David Dao needed to get back home to see patients and United Airlines involuntarily bumped him. These kinds of situations don't happen often, but Kaitlin Pitsker, a staff writer at Kiplinger Personal Finance who wrote "Know Your Rights On Flights," says they can happen.

"Most of these situations are resolved by people volunteering to take a later flight, in exchange for a couple hundred dollars and a seat on the next flight," she told ConsumerAffairs. "It's pretty unusual to have a situation like the one that happened on that United flight."

Less of a chance being bumped on a large plane

After the United incident, nearly all airlines that bump started upping the ante for incentives to give up a seat. On a large aircraft, usually there will be at least one passenger who will take the bait. Dr. Dao was a passenger on a small commuter jet, so there were fewer passengers in the pool.

"If no one, or not enough people step forward and agree to take a later flight, they will start selecting people who are told 'your seat on this flight is no longer your seat. You're going to take a later flight.' At that point, it's really too late, but you can hope that if you ask nicely that they'll relent, but really, they've already made their decision and your best bet is to look at the compensation," Pitsker said.

The Department of Transportation sets the compensation if you are involuntarily bumped, basing it on the price of your ticket and the length of the delay.

"Most bumped passengers who experience short delays on flights will receive compensation equal to double the one-way price of the flight they were bumped from, up to $675," the Transportation Department says on its website. "Passengers experiencing longer delays on flights would receive payments of four times the one-way value of the flight they were bumped from, up to $1,350."

Travel insurance is of no help

That doesn't help you very much, however, if you need to arrive at a destination in a timely fashion to begin an expensive cruise or other pre-paid tour. Megan Singh, Project Management Director at Squaremouth.com, says even if you have travel insurance, it's not going to help if you miss your tour because you were involuntarily bumped.

"This is because most travel insurance policies cover 'any delay of the common carrier,' and in the scenario of a traveler being bumped, the common carrier is not delayed, only that one traveler,' she said in an email to ConsumerAffairs.

So your best bet is to avoid getting bumped in the first place. Is that actually possible?

Pitsker says there are no guarantees, but there are things that can reduce your chances of being singled out to give up your seat. She says you can generally reduce your chance of being bumped by choosing a seat well in advance, by checking in online as soon as you can, and arriving at the gate on time. With some airlines, she says being a member of the frequent flier program can help.

When tax time comes every April, do you find yourself celebrating because you're getting a refund or griping because you owe taxes?

There's a way to avoid both.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) advises you to check your tax withholding from time to time as there are a number of factors that could determine whether you get money back or have to send more in.

It's important to remember that when you get a refund, it's YOUR money you are getting back, not the government's. By withholding too much, you're giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan. This is money you could invest and put to work for you. Whether you would or not is a topic for a separate discussion.

In any event, when you have the correct amount taken out, you get closer to having a zero balance when you file your return -- no taxes owed, no refund.

What to do

In many cases, a new Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, is all you need to make an adjustment. Just submit it to your employer, and the employer will use it to figure out how much federal income tax to withheld from your pay.

The IRS offers several online resources to help you bring taxes paid closer to what you owe. They include:

• IRS Withholding Calculator, an online tool that helps determine the correct amount of tax to withhold;
• IRS Publication 505, a guide to tax withholding and estimated tax; and
• Tax Withholding, complete information on withholding, estimated taxes, FAQs, and more.

Self-employed taxpayers, including those involved in the sharing economy, can use the Form 1040-ES worksheet to figure their estimated tax payments.

If they also work for an employer, they can often forgo making these quarterly payments by instead having more tax taken out of their pay.

Every once in a while nature puts on a free show and the world goes nuts for it.

Yet another will come up August 21 when the moon will pass between the sun and the earth, presenting a total solar eclipse, visible this time in the United States.

But not all of the U.S. Only an approximately 70 mile-wide area, stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, will get the full effects, with broad daylight turning to evening twilight in a matter of minutes.

People who don't happen to live inside this narrow band can still experience the eclipse if they can get there, and Hotels.com reports lodging establishments located inside the eclipse path are booking reservations at a record rate.

According to a report by the booking site, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Idaho and Kentucky -- all of which lie in the eclipse zone -- have seen the biggest increase in hotel searches when compared year over year.

Nebraska may be a prime spot

Nebraska has actually seen the largest increase; searches are up 325%. Kansas is next at over 200%, followed by Missouri at nearly 160%, Idaho at 135%, and Kentucky with a 130% increase.

"Total solar eclipses are special events in the Universe," said Thomas Hettinger, Ph.D. and a member of the Hotels.com team. "In addition to requiring a moon at just the right distance with just the right size, a planet must also have a star at just the right distance with just the right size."

Because these events are rare and because they are best seen in a limited area, regions not known as tourist destinations tend to be crowded with tourists, at least for one day.

Early reservations advised

The experts at Hotels.com advise making reservations as soon as possible, especially since there are still some deals available.

In Nebraska, Omaha's Magnolia Hotel earns 4.3 out of 5.0 stars on Hotels.com and rooms start at $169 a night. In Manhattan, Kan., the Anderson Bed & Breakfast is $141 a night with 4.9 out of 5.0 stars.

In Meridian, Idaho, the My Place Hotel's rate is $198 and has a 4.6 star rating.

Those who have seen a total eclipse call it a spectacular experience, but health officials caution that no one should look directly at the sun during an eclipse without special precautions.

The only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses.” The American Astronomical Society cautions that ordinary sunglasses or homemade filters aren't safe.

Cesina Sausage Company of Aliquippa, Pa., is recalling approximately 10 pounds of pork sausage (kolbassi).

The product label identifies this product as ready-to-eat when, in fact, it is not.

There are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of this product.

The following item, produced on June 22, 2017, is being recalled:

• 1-lb. vacuumed packed packages of “CESINA’S BRAND FULLY COOKED • SMOKED PORK KOLBASSI”

The recalled product, bearing establishment number “EST. 5073” inside the USDA mark of inspection, was shipped to a grocery store in Aliquippa.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should not consume it, but throw it away or return it to the place of purchase.

Consumers questions about the recall may contact William Costanza at (724) 375-2450.

Whether you love him or hate him, President Donald Trump is unlike any other man who has held the office before him. While getting a read on what a sitting president is thinking has been more nuanced and difficult in the past, there’s not much guesswork when it comes to Trump – all you have to do is read his Twitter feed.

However, that same Twitter feed can often turn vitriolic when Trump feels attacked or set upon by others, perhaps so much so that critics are questioning whether the account violates Twitter’s terms of use.

In a recent report, Recode asked Del Harvey, Twitter’s VP of Trust and Safety, if the site is able to treat Trump’s account like any other when it comes to suspending or banning it for being abusive. Although the executive prefaced her statement by saying that she couldn’t talk about individual accounts or hypotheticals, she said that the platform does its best to treat all users equally.

“We apply our policies consistently,” Harvey said. “We have processes in place to deal with whomever the person may be, we try to be as consistent as possible, as scalable as possible, and there’s always all sorts of context and other things that come into play that make it impossible to comment on hypotheticals as it is…The rules are the rules, we enforce them the same way for everybody.”

Crossing the line?

While the answer certainly won’t be enough to assuage the president’s critics, the answer brings up a lot of questions about whether Trump’s online conduct crosses the line.

Earlier this month, he re-tweeted a video of himself body-slamming a person with the CNN logo edited over their face. While seen as harmless by many, several media outlets and experts took it as a threat of violence against the media, which Trump has clashed with numerous times over the past year.

But according to Twitter’s own rules, posting any threat of violence against another entity is grounds for suspension or a permanent ban. The site also makes a similar distinction surrounding harassment and targeted abuse of others, and arguments could be made that past attacks of figures like Rosie O’Donnell or more recently Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski fit that bill.  

"Beneath the office"

Lawmakers have even questioned Trump’s use of the social media platform. After his attack on Scarborough and Brzezinski, members of Trump’s own party expressed their dissatisfaction with the President’s actions.

“Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a tweet of his own.

“Obviously, I don’t see that as an appropriate comment,” added House Speaker Paul Ryan. “What we’re trying to do around here is improve the tone, the civility, of the debate; and this obviously doesn’t help do that.”

Living to be 100 used to be unusual. But it's now becoming much more common and is causing a number of unanticipated problems, over and above the strain on Social Security and other benefit programs.

Take Gary Lebbin. He'll turn 100 in September, which he's happy about. But his $3.2 million life insurance policies will terminate on that date, which is making him unhappy. So unhappy that he is suing Transamerica Corp. His story is told in today's Wall Street Journal.

Lebbin argues that when he bought his policies in the 1990s, he was told that they would remain in force for the rest of his life. In fact, the policies have a clause that stipulates they terminate on his 100th birthday -- a common provision for policies written a few decades ago. Today, similar policies tend to expire at age 121, which actuaries figure is about the upper limit, at least for now. 

Transamerica said it is sympathetic but must adhere to the terms of its contract. "We take seriously our obligations to the millions of customers who rely on the solutions we provide and we abide fully by the terms and conditions of our policy contracts,” the company said in a statement to the Journal. 

More centenarians every year

Lebbin's case may sound unusual but with more people living to 100 every year, it is likely that others will find themselves in similar situations.

The policies in this case are what are called permanent life policies. They combine a tax-free death benefit with a tax-deferred savings plan. So Lebbin will get the savings portion -- the "net cash value" -- back, with interest, but the death benefit will expire on his birthday. 

Most consumers are not in a position to buy multi-million dollar policies but the expiration date issue may also affect much smaller permanent -- or "whole" -- life policies. Many Americans currently hold permanent life policies they bought years ago and assume they are still in force even though they are no longer required to pay premiums. It's a good idea to review those policies, just to be sure.

Many people look at their life insurance as a means to pay their final expenses -- funeral and burial costs -- and provide at least some benefit for their family.

For younger wage earners, a term policy -- sometimes called "temporary insurance" is usually the best option. It's sold for a term of 10 years, or some other predetermined period of time. 

Term insurance is relatively inexpensive for younger people in good health looking to support their dependents when a family's bread-earner dies, but it is not intended to provide a lifelong benefit. 

The cost of term insurance rises with each year of age and eventually becomes unaffordable for older consumers. That's why, once children are grown and the term insurance has run its course, many people rely on their savings to cover their final costs and provide a small benefit for their survivors. 

Higher income individuals, like Lebbin, have a more complex situation because they must try to shield assets from taxation. The average consumer is in many cases better off making prepaid funeral arrangements and simply passing on any accumulated assets to their survivors. 

You go into a fast-food restaurant and order a salad. It comes in a plastic bowl, covered by a clear plastic top.

The salad dressing is in a plastic bag and the utensils to eat the salad are made of plastic. They are encased in a clear plastic wrapper. When you're finished eating, all of that plastic goes into the trash.

And that's just one example of how nearly every consumer product produces some kind of plastic waste, waste that for the most part either ends up in landfills or the natural environment and doesn't break down over time.

Writing in Sciences Advances, researchers from several different universities point out that large-scale of production of plastic has only occurred since around 1950. Since then, production has surged, fueled by what is known as "single use" plastic -- material used in packaging or to produce the forks and spoons at fast-food restaurants.

8.3 billion metric tons

In that time, we've produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics, the researcher write. They say their analysis is the first to look at global plastic production, how it's used and where it goes.

Of the 6.3 billion tons of plastic that becomes waste, the researchers say only 9% was recycled and 12% was incinerated. Seventy-nine percent, they say, ended up in landfills or the natural environment.

“Most plastics don’t biodegrade in any meaningful sense, so the plastic waste humans have generated could be with us for hundreds or even thousands of years,” said Jenna Jambeck, study co-author and associate professor of engineering at UGA. “Our estimates underscore the need to think critically about the materials we use and our waste management practices.”

12 billion tons by 2050

Jambeck and her colleague say that if current trends continue, 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste will end up in landfills or the environment by 2050. To put 12 billion tons in perspective, that's about 35,000 times as heavy at the Empire State Building.

Researchers say part of the problem is in how plastic, an incredibly durable material, is used. They point out that steel is also durable, but once it is produced it usually goes into buildings and other structures, where it stays for decades.

An increasing amount of plastic, however, falls into the "single-use" category. The plastic elements in the fast-food salad mentioned above are used just once. Roland Geyer, lead author of the paper, says half of all the world's plastic becomes waste after four or fewer years of use.

The researchers say they aren't suggesting a total removal of plastic from the marketplace. Instead, they say there needs to be a more serious examination of how plastic is used and what happens to it after.

If you can't be 'em, join 'em. That might be the thinking behind Sears' announcement that it will begin selling its Kenmore products on Amazon.com.

For Sears, it marks the biggest distribution of Kenmore appliances outside of its brick and mortar stores and comes as Amazon continues to invade traditional retailers' space. Amazon recently announced the purchase of the Whole Foods chain, sending shivers through the supermarket industry.

In addition to the marketing deal, Sears also said that its Kenmore Smart room air conditioners are integrated with Amazon's Alexa app and are available now on Amazon. It will expand the distribution to include all Kenmore home appliances. On Wall Street, Sears stock surged on the news.

"We continuously look for opportunities to enhance the reach of our iconic brands to more customers and create additional value from our assets," said Edward S. Lampert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Holdings.

Will expand availability

Lampert says the move will "significantly expand" the availability of Kenmore appliances to U.S. consumers.

Sears Holdings, which also owns Kmart, has struggled in recent years as more retail sales have shifted to online channels. The company closed a number of stores in 2016, including 30 right at the end of the year.

As we reported then, Sears had lost money in each of the past six fiscal years as it continues to lose business to online retailers and other brick-and-mortar stores. Pairing itself with a retail juggernaut probably can't hurt, putting its key brand in front of more consumers.

Linking its smart appliances with Alexa may also raise the company's visibility. The company says its Kenmore skill for Alexa allows users to control their Kenmore smart-enabled home appliances with simple voice commands.

Customers can enable the skill in the Alexa Skill Store, link their account and then begin asking Alexa to interact with their Kenmore appliances.

General Motors won another ignition-switch case this week, as a federal jury in New York rejected claims that the defective switch was responsible for a fender-bender in Arizona.

Dennis Ward had claimed that the faulty switch was responsible for an accident in which his used 2009 Chevrolet HHR rear-ended another car in Tucson in March 2014. Ward said the switch caused his car's engine to cut off, disabling its brakes and steering. 

GM has won all seven cases that have gone to trial so far, although it has settled several cases out of court and those settlements have been sealed, meaning they are secret. 

GM faces hundreds of lawsuits that were filed after it recalled 2.5 million Chevrolet Cobalts, Pontiacs, Saturns, and other small sedans. In 2015, it paid a $900 million settlement to avoid criminal charges for knowingly putting defective parts in its cars. 

U.S. District Court Jesse Furman earlier divided the cases into "bellwethers," each consolidated case reprsenting a category of collision.

The Center for Auto Safety says there have been more than 300 deaths caused by the switches, but GM says only 15 fatalities are potentially linked to the defect.

Before the first school bell rings, most parents will have made sure to check off each item on their child’s school supply list. But notebooks, pencils, and clothing aren’t all your child might need as they enter a new grade level.

Doctors say parents should also remember to get their kids caught up on recommended vaccines before the school year begins.

Even if you have not previously vaccinated your child according to the CDC recommended schedule, physicians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) say you can get your child caught up on their vaccines in just one visit.

It's not too late

For maximum efficacy, vaccines should be given on time. But even parents who previously rejected vaccinating their children or neglected to get vaccinations can get their children back on schedule, said Dr. David Kimberlin, vice chair of Pediatrics.

“Talk with your pediatrician about getting caught up, because it is possible and highly recommended,” Kimberlin said, adding that the best way to treat diseases like polio, measles, rubella, diphtheria, and others is to prevent them in the first place.

“The diseases on the vaccine schedule are all preventable for the vast majority of our population,” he said. But in order to stave off these preventable diseases, the body has to be taught through a vaccine to resist the disease.

Preventable diseases

Although vaccines are a hot button issue, Kimberlin says it's difficult for him to understand "why someone would reject a medical miracle for their child."

"The very success of the vaccination program is probably a big part of why we as physicians face these obstacles today, because parents don't see measles, polio and rubella the way they did 30, 40, 50 and 60 years ago." 

"So they don't have the perspective that their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers had when it was common to lose a child to one of these now-preventable diseases," Kimberlin said.

Recommended vaccine schedule

Each state and the District of Columbia have their own vaccination requirements to attend public school. UAB physicians urge parents of both boys and girls to begin HPV vaccinations at age 11 to prevent cervical, penile, oropharyngea l and rectal cancers.

Here is the recommended immunization schedule for school-age children and adolescents between the ages of 15-18:

• Kindergarten. Booster doses for Measles, Chicken Pox, DTaP, Polio, flu shot
• Grades 1 - 5. Annual flu shot
• Grade 6. TdaP, Meningitis, HPV #1 of 2, annual flu shot
• Grade 7. HPV #2 of 2, flu shot
• Grades 8 - 9. Flu shot, catch up on HPV shots if any doses were missed
• Grade 10. Booster dose of Meningitis, flu shot
• Grade 11. Flu shot.
• Grade 12. Men-B Meningitis (new), flu shot

The credit card industry is getting more competitive, with companies providing more services and rewards. Consumers stand to benefit.

For example, Discover has just begun a new program that will alert cardholders if their Social Security number shows up on a black market website, or when new accounts are opened on their Experian credit report.

The company will monitor so-called "dark web" websites that normally traffic in stolen data used to steal identities. If a cardholder's Social Security shows up on one of these sites, the customer will get an immediate alert.

Julie Loeger, Discover’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, says the new services fall in line with the company's core mission.

'Raising the bar'

“We’re raising the bar even higher by offering these new alerts for free to our cardmembers," she said. "It’s our way of looking out for our customers beyond just their Discover accounts.”

A Social Security number is the key piece of data a thief needs to establish bogus credit accounts in a victim's name. And its theft may be much more widespread than anyone would ever guess.

In 2015, NPR reported that government agencies don't track this kind of statistic, but an expert from Verizon says that 60% to 80% of all Social Security numbers have, at one time or another, fallen into the hands of people not authorized to have them.

Discover says that if it finds a cardmember's Social Security number on a risky website, or if a new credit account shows up on the customer's Experian credit report, that customer will get an email alert or optional text.

Customer support

If the customer doesn't know what to do, Discover says he or she may call a Discover customer service agent to learn the steps to resolve the issue.

“Knowing is the first step toward preventing or resolving identity theft or fraud," Loeger said. "That’s why our new alerts are intended to make sure our cardmembers are in the know when their identities might be at risk.”

Discover says identity fraud cases rose 16% last year to reach a record 15.4 million victims. It cites research which shows nearly half of all U.S. consumers think their personal information is less safe than it was five years ago.

American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 193 model year 2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid vehicles.

The engine fuel feed hose and a fuel purge hose that may have been misrouted during vehicle assembly.

The misrouting can cause the hoses to be damaged from contact with other components, potentially resulting in a fuel leak. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of a fire.

What to do

Acura will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the routing of the fuel feed hose and the fuel purge hose. If misrouted, the hoses will be replaced and installed correctly, free of charge.

Owners may contact Acura client relations at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is KF8.

Ford Motor Company is recalling 14,410 model year 2015-2017 F-150, and model year 2017 F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 trucks originally produced with black or body colored exterior door handles that may have been subsequently equipped with a chrome exterior door handle cover accessory kit purchased from a Ford dealer.

The door handle covers may cause the doors to unlatch in a side impact collision.

As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 206, "Door Locks and Door Retention Components."

If the doors unlatch and open in a side impact collision, the occupants have an increased risk of injury.

What to do

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will remove the accessory covers and refund the purchase price. The recall is expected to begin July 21, 2017.

Owners may contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for the recall is 17C09.

A federal judge in Missouri has removed 86 of the original 94 plaintiffs in a lawsuit over Bayer's Essure birth control device. Judge Carol Jackson said that only women who had the devices implanted in Missouri could participate in the action.

The Missouri case is one of thousands filed in the U.S. by consumers who say they have been harmed by the device. 

Essure is a small metal coil that is placed in the fallopian tubes using a catheter. After about three months, scar tissue forms around the coils and is supposed to prevent pregnancy.

But there have been complaints from women who say they have suffered pain and menstrual irregulatiries after Essure was implanted. In 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had received 5,093 complaints in the 13 years since Essure's approval. 

Bayer said in its most recent financial statement that as of January 23, "U.S. lawsuits from approximately 3,700 users of Essure ... had been served upon Bayer." 

Besides the pain and menstrual problems, the FDA said there had been five fetal deaths and four reports of adult deaths caused by infection and uteriine perforation.

Many of the most serious complications have occurred in cases where women asked their doctors to remove the device, either because of pain or regret over their initial decision to be permanently blocked from conceiving.

In some cases, the device breaks upon removal, possibly leaving fragments behind, according to reports in legal and medical journals. 

"Meritorious defenses"

In February, Johannes Dietsch, a Bayer board member, said in an address at a financial conference that Bayer had so far suffered "impairment losses of 561 million Euros recognized on intangible assets, particularly in connection with Essure."

"Plaintiffs allege personal injuries from the use of Essure, including hysterectomy, perforation, pain, bleeding, weight gain, nickel sensitivity, depression and unwanted pregnancy. As of January 23, 2017, two Canadian lawsuits relating to Essure seeking class action certification had been served upon Bayer. Bayer believes it has meritorious defenses and intends to defend itself vigorously," the company said in its 2016 financial report.  

In 2016, the FDA issued updated guidelines requiring new labeling requirements and a patient checklist to help reduce potential problems. About 1 million of the devices have been implanted since 2001. 

The total amount owed on student loans in the U.S. hovers around $1.3 trillion, but a sizable chunk of that debt might suddenly disappear.

If it did, it would mostly affect those students who have struggled the most to pay it back.

The New York Times reports the student loans in question are private loans, mostly made by banks, that have been sold to investors. The Times reports a review of court records indicates that judges have already dismissed dozens of lawsuits brought by the owners of the loans against former students who have defaulted.

The reason? There are said to be significant gaps in the paper trail establishing who exactly owns the loans. According to the newspaper, as much as $5 billion in private student loans might simply be declared invalid, meaning the former students would owe nothing.

National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts

Lendedu, which covers the student loan industry, reports one of the biggest owners of the troubled loans is National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, a single organization made up of several trusts. In a recent court filing, the Trusts noted that it has already lost numerous court cases based on the position that it cannot prove ownership of the loan -- a position it disputes and declares to be unfair.

"For example, this year, the Ohio Court of Appeals overturned a judgment in favor of the Trusts because the Trusts neglected to include documentation to prove that it is entitled to demand judgment of the note," the document stated.

The court filing requested the right to audit the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency to find needed documentation for some loans. It also warned that as news spreads of the documentation issue, the likelihood of further defaults will rise.

Total loans worth $12 billion

Lendedu reports National College Student Loan Trusts is composed of 15 trusts that hold a combined total of 800,000 private student loans. Those loans could be worth $12 billion, and Lendedu says more than $5 billion of that debt is in default.

If all of this sounds vaguely familiar, private student loans are often treated the same way subprime mortgages were before the financial crisis. Then, these mortgages were sold by the lenders to investment banks who turned them into securities and sold them on the market. Roughly the same model is used for private student loans.

Consumers across a range of income levels are worrying more about money. A new study by MassMutual suggests the worry stems from personal finance issues, but is not confined to financial matters.

"Our research shows that middle-income earners express widespread worry about a range of issues, particularly politics and their personal finances," said Teresa Hassara, leader of Workplace Solutions at MassMutual.

The survey show 48% of consumers reported an improved sense of financial security during the past 12 months. but at the same time, just as many said they worry about money at least once a week. The less the household earns, the more the consumers in it tend to worry.

Aren't happy days here again?

The stock market is at record highs and unemployment is at near record lows, so what's behind the worry? First, not all that many middle-income consumers own stocks.

Overall, more than half the consumers in the survey described themselves only "somewhat secure" when it comes to their financial lives. Well over one-third said they were "not very" or "not at all" financially stable.

The big driver of financial worry, according to the study, seems to be debt. Consumers have a lot of it.

Debt is the biggest concern

In fact, the study's authors say debt is the single biggest financial issue facing middle-income consumers, with 22% citing it as their top financial problem. The biggest areas of debt concern are levels of credit card debt and student loan debt. Both combine to take huge chunks out of a typical household budget.

At the same time, consumers also worry about their health, and the financial burden an injury or illness can cause. As Baby Boomers age, health-related financial concerns increase in importance.

The hyper-partisan political atmosphere also appears to be making consumers more anxious about the economy and their financial standing. In the survey, concern about politics and the direction of the country was even greater that worries about household finances and other typical concerns.

Not surprisingly, nearly half expressed concern about potential changes to the healthcare system. Again no surprise, lower-income consumers expressed the most concern.

This level of financial worry nine years after the financial crisis may pose a challenge for policymakers. The study authors say employers may have the chance to play a bigger role in helping employees lessen their worries by strengthening financial wellness programs in the workplace.