Good morning! Medicare is proposing a fast lane that could cover breakthrough medical devices within weeks of FDA approval instead of years. Also below: a new FTC warning says the top search result for "pay my bill" isn't always your biller.
Worth Knowing
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Medicare wants new devices covered within 60 days of FDA approvalRight now, a medical device can win FDA approval and still spend years outside Medicare coverage while paperwork catches up. A CMS notice published August 11 proposes a fix called the RAPID pathway: for devices the FDA designates as breakthrough technology, Medicare would issue a national coverage decision the same day the FDA authorizes the device, with coverage beginning as soon as about 60 days after approval. If it goes through, the wait for things like advanced glucose monitors, hearing implants, and heart devices would shrink from years to weeks. The proposal is open for public comment now. |
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On the SAVE student-loan plan? A 90-day clock may already be runningLoan servicers finished sending switch notices to remaining SAVE borrowers on August 15. Each notice starts a 90-day window to actively choose a replacement plan: the new income-driven RAP option or a Standard plan. Do nothing, and you're auto-enrolled in a plan that typically costs more per month than the income-driven choice. This one reaches beyond recent graduates: plenty of readers carry parent PLUS loans or cosigned for grandchildren. If anyone in your family was on SAVE, find the notice and mark the deadline. |
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⚠ Scam alert
The top result for "pay my bill" may not be your billerThe signal: you search "[your utility] pay my bill," and the first result (marked "Sponsored") looks exactly like your biller's payment page. The FTC warned August 17 that impersonator sites are buying those top ad slots. In its case against bill-pay platform Doxo, which just agreed to pay $2.1 million, the FTC found the company used real company names to mimic official payment pages for AT&T, Spectrum, and Labcorp, then tacked on hidden fees. Fewer than 2% of the billers in its network had actually authorized it. What to do: skip the search engine. Type the payment address printed on your paper or email statement, or use your biller's app. Verify it: before entering any payment details, check that the URL in the address bar matches your statement — and report look-alikes at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. |
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Employers could soon add $2,500 a year to a grandchild's Trump AccountProposed IRS rules published August 11 spell out how employers can contribute up to $2,500 a year, tax-free, to a Trump Account for an employee or an employee's dependent. Dependents can include grandchildren, if they're claimed on the employee's return. The rules bar favoritism toward highly paid staff, and public comments are open through September 25. If you're still working, or your adult children are heading into fall benefits enrollment, it's worth asking whether this lands on the benefits menu for 2027. |
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Your phone's AI is about to show its workGoogle previewed an Android feature called Halo that displays, step by step, what an AI assistant is doing on your phone while it books, fills, or fixes something, so nothing happens invisibly. A companion light on the new Pixel 11 Pro glows when the assistant is actively processing a voice request. It's a small change aimed at a real concern: if software is going to act on your behalf, you should be able to watch it happen — and stop it. |
Remember When?
The national holiday that started as a birthday present
Today is National Aviation Day, and the date is no accident. When President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed the observance in 1939, he pinned it to August 19 because that was Orville Wright's birthday. Orville, born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1871, was 68 at the time and very much alive: he got to spend his last nine birthdays as the living honoree of a national holiday, until his death in 1948.
The photograph below was taken at Kitty Hawk in October 1902, a year before the famous first flight. That's Orville and Wilbur with mentor Octave Chanute and three fellow experimenters, seated in front of the 1902 glider — the machine that taught the brothers how to steer. Powered flight, when it came 14 months later, lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. The Boeing you last boarded covers that before the wheels leave the runway.
The Wright brothers, Octave Chanute, and fellow experimenters with the 1902 glider at Kitty Hawk. Photo: Lorin Wright / Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
| Loaf of white bread | 53¢ → $1.82 |
| Sliced bacon, per lb | $2.05 → $6.58 |
| Ground coffee, per lb | $2.52 → $9.32 |
| White sugar, per lb | 33¢ → $1.02 |
| In-state college tuition, per year | $1,031 → $11,950 |
| Disneyland one-day ticket | $12 → from $104 |
Average U.S. prices. 2026 grocery figures are July BLS averages; tuition is the College Board's published in-state average for 2025–26; Disneyland's 2026 one-day tickets are tiered by date.
Test Yourself
| 1 | On August 19, 1812, the USS Constitution defeated HMS Guerriere in a battle so lopsided that British cannonballs seemed to bounce off her hull. What nickname did she earn that day? |
| 2 | A newborn baby has around 270 bones, but many fuse together as we grow. How many bones does the typical adult skeleton have? |
| 3 | In L. Frank Baum's original 1900 novel, Dorothy's magical shoes weren't ruby red. What color were they in the book? |
| 4 | At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, one American track star won four gold medals and became the story of the Games. Who was he? |
| 5 | The word "salary" comes from the Latin word for a common household staple. Which one? |
Answers are near the bottom of today's email. No peeking.
Live Better
What 69 trials found about vitamin D, calcium, and falls
A major review in The BMJ pooled 69 randomized trials covering 153,902 adults and found that for most independently living older adults, calcium, vitamin D, or the two together made little to no meaningful difference in fall or fracture risk. The reviewers used clinical-benefit thresholds, not just statistical ones, and they point to what does have solid evidence: balance and resistance exercise.
Two important exceptions: the review doesn't apply to people with diagnosed osteoporosis or a confirmed vitamin D deficiency, who may still benefit. If you take these purely as fall insurance, it's a fair question for your next appointment, along with what a strength-and-balance routine could look like.
Book the chimney inspection before the fall rush
The national fire-safety standard calls for chimneys, fireplaces, and vents (wood, gas, oil, or pellet) to be inspected once a year, and late August is the sweet spot: certified technicians' calendars fill fast once the first cold night hits. Heating equipment is behind an average of 38,881 home fires a year, and space heaters and heating stoves account for nearly eight in ten of the deaths.
A standard inspection and sweep from a CSIA-certified technician runs roughly $250 to $500. Book it now and it's done before you need the fireplace.
The penalty for missing a retirement withdrawal is half what it used to be
Missing a required minimum distribution used to cost you 50% of the amount you failed to withdraw — one of the harshest penalties in the tax code. Under SECURE 2.0 it's now 25%, and it drops to 10% if you fix the mistake and file within two years.
The current rules: RMDs start at 73 if you were born 1951–1959, and 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Roth 401(k)s no longer require withdrawals during your lifetime. If you turned 73 this year, calculate the withdrawal now rather than joining the December rush. If you've already missed one, the cheaper correction path is reason to act, not hide.
Enjoy Yourself
A cozy British mystery just became free to binge
Starting Saturday, all of season 1 of The Marlow Murder Club (retired archaeologist, crossword habit, murders in a picturesque Thames town) streams free on the PBS App and pbs.org, with a season 2 marathon following Sunday. It's the runway to season 3, which lands on Masterpiece September 6. Three weekends, three seasons, zero subscriptions.
It's National Potato Day, and dinner can be a bar
August 19 is National Potato Day, which is all the permission a weeknight needs: bake a tray of russets, set out bowls of whatever's in the fridge (chili, broccoli, bacon, three cheeses, sour cream, chives), and let everyone build their own. It's the rare dinner that pleases six people with one sheet pan.
The boatbuilder who turned down $400 million
Eddie Smith, the 83-year-old behind Grady-White Boats in Greenville, North Carolina, fielded offers "well north of $400 million" for the company he's run since 1968. He said no. Instead, he placed Grady-White in a perpetual purpose trust, so the majority of its future profits flow permanently to education, healthcare, and conservation causes. His inspiration: Patagonia's founder, who did the same in 2022.
One Last Thing
1. "Old Ironsides" — her hull wasn't iron but layered oak up to two feet thick; she's still a commissioned Navy ship in Boston, the oldest warship afloat in the world · 2. 206 — down from around 270 at birth: 80 in the skull, spine, and ribs, and 126 in the limbs · 3. Silver — MGM changed them to ruby so they'd pop against the yellow brick road in the brand-new Technicolor process · 4. Jesse Owens — 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and the 4x100 relay; no American matched four track golds in one Games until Carl Lewis in 1984 · 5. Salt — "salary" traces to the Latin salarium, from sal, though the story that Roman soldiers were literally paid in salt is legend, not history
After 55 years, a DNA test answered his question
Joshua Schneeloch grew up in a German Catholic orphanage wondering who his father was. This year, a DNA kit, a gift from his wife, led him to Arthur Colbert, an American serviceman once stationed in Germany. On August 2, the two met for the first time in Jefferson, Texas, where more than 60 newly discovered relatives turned out to welcome him. Fifty-five years of wondering, ended by a cotton swab and a stranger's yes.
More tomorrow. — The editors