DL Open Thread: Sunday, November 19, 2023

You Got To Fight–For Your Right–For Junk Fees.  Lobbyists battle Biden Administration against regulating junk fees:

Frustrated with airlines that charge passengers steep fees to check bags and change flights, President Biden last fall embarked on a campaign to crack down on the practice — and force companies to show the full price of travel before people pay for their tickets.

Since then, the Biden administration has broadened its efforts to expose or eliminate “junk fees” throughout the economy, touching off a groundswell of opposition from airlines, auto dealers, banks, credit card companies, cable giants, property owners and ticket sellers that hope to preserve their profits.

Behind the scenes, these corporations have fought vigorously to thwart even the most basic rules that would require them to be more transparent about hidden charges, according to a Washington Post review of federal lobbying records and hundreds of filings submitted to government agencies. The fees together may cost Americans at least $64 billion annually, according to a rough White House estimate, underscoring its efforts to deliver financial relief to families grappling with high prices.

Junk fees are money for nothin’.  A feature of unfettered capitalism.

Speaking Of Money For Nothin’–No Service Goes Uncharged At Assisted Living Facilities:

These highly profitable facilities often charge $5,000 a month or more and then layer on extra fees at every step. Residents’ bills and price lists from a dozen facilities offer a glimpse of the charges: $12 for a blood pressure check; $50 per injection (more for insulin); $93 a month to order medications from a pharmacy not used by the facility; $315 a month for daily help with an inhaler.

The facilities charge extra to help residents get to the shower, bathroom or dining room; to deliver meals to their rooms; to have staff check-ins for daily “reassurance” or simply to remind residents when it’s time to eat or take their medication. Some even charge for routine billing to a resident’s insurance for care.

“They say, ‘Your mother forgot one time to take her medications and so now you’ve got to add this on and we’re billing you for it,’” said Lori Smetanka, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, a nonprofit.

About 850,000 older Americans reside in assisted-living facilities, which have become one of the most lucrative branches of the long-term care industry catering to people 65 and older. Investors, regional companies and international real estate trusts have jumped in: Half of operators in the business of assisted living earn returns of 20 percent or more than it costs to run the sites, an industry survey shows. That is far higher than the money made in most other health sectors.

Why? Because they are largely unregulated.  They absolutely must be regulated.  They literally have licenses to steal.

How Close To An Agreement Is ‘Close To An Agreement’?  Until there’s an agreement, there is no agreement.  However, this is encouraging:

Israel and Hamas are close to agreement on a U.S.-brokered deal that would free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting, say people familiar with the emerging terms.

The release, which could begin within the next several days — barring last-minute hitches — could lead to the first sustained pause in conflict in Gaza.

A detailed, six-page set of written terms would require all parties to the conflict to freeze combat operations for at least five days while an initial 50 or more hostages are released in smaller batches every 24 hours. It was not immediately clear how many of the 239 people believed to be in captivity in Gaza would be released under the deal. Overhead surveillancewould monitor movement on the ground to police the pause.

The Joe/Hunter Relationship.  A nuanced and informative piece:

Over the years, Hunter’s relationship with his own last name has been complex and even tortured. He has been proud of it, relied on it, benefited from it. But it has also invited burdens and scrutiny. And while his business life has been closely bound up with his father’s world, he has at times been protective of the Biden name and shied away from taking advantage too directly.

A Delaware connection:

When Jack Markell, then governor of Delaware, attempted to secure a meeting between Joe Biden and a group of Chinese business executives considering an investment in Delaware, Markell tried to enlist Hunter’s help in reaching his vice-presidential father. But Hunter, appearing a bit baffled, was not sure he could assist.

“I don’t know how to handle — JRB is not going to meet with 4 Chinese Nationals — at least I don’t think he will,” Hunter wrote, using his father’s initials in an email to Dennis Toner, a longtime former aide to Joe Biden. “And clearly they can’t be at a [fundraiser] with him. What do you suggest?”

Markell the next day asked Hunter if his father could at least write a letter apologizing for being unable to meet with the business executives. “If that doesn’t work, perhaps a letter from Hunter referring to his dad or something … i think you get the point,” he added.

Toner said he did not recall any conversations about the email. Markell, who is the U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino, said he did not remember the exchange or any letter materializing. Of an engagement with the vice president, he said, “I’m confident no such meeting took place.”