The CMS said a HealthCare.gov security breach detected on Oct. 16 may have affected 93,689 individuals, higher than the initial estimate of 75,000 consumers. The agency has already notified affected consumers and offered them free credit protection and other services such as identity theft insurance, identity monitoring and identity restoration, although the agency is not sure whether any personal information was compromised.
Walmart has introduced an initiative called the Military Spouse Career Connection to recruit military spouses, who face a 26% unemployment rate. The program goes along with the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, an initiative introduced in 2013 to hire 250,000 military veterans by 2020.
Photography is a great way to engage students in academic lessons, suggests educator Jennifer Sullivan. In this blog post, she shares four ways students who have autism may benefit from this approach, including by encouraging independence and offering their perspectives.
⋅ Reuters
UK Prime Minister Teresa May is trying to save a draft Brexit agreement with the EU as officials quit her government. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and other ministers have resigned over the proposal.
⋅ Reuters
Ahold Delhaize is looking to add more properties to its grocery portfolio in the US, according to quotes from CEO Frans Muller in a Dutch newspaper. The company currently operates such banners as Stop & Shop and Giant Food in the US market.
The number of Americans without health insurance has dropped to about 28.5 million in the first six months of 2018, 20.1 million lower than in 2010 when the Affordable Care Act was signed, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Uninsured Americans make up about 8.8% of the population in the latest data, which the CDC says is "not significantly different" from 2017's 9.1%, despite Democratic and analyst concerns that Trump administration actions may cause the uninsured rate to rise.
⋅ ClickZ
Some 73% of brands say mobile will be more important than desktop for holiday revenue in 2018, and 38% of advertisers intend to invest in Facebook Stories while 37% will spend on Instagram Stories, according to a study by ClickZ and Kenshoo. Additionally, 56% of retailers plan to boost or maintain their Amazon ad spend this holiday season.
Levi Strauss & Co. will open a flagship in New York City's Times Square on Friday, and the apparel retailer is reportedly planning to return to the public markets with an initial public offering. The 145-year-old company, which first went public in 1971 and was taken private in 1984, could be valued at over $5 billion, sources said.
Google added a Night Sight feature to its Pixel phones, which allow users to take high-quality images in low visibility. The high-tech feature is more than a simple long-exposure system, instead segmenting exposure into multiple frames to capture the best images.
The FDA has warned StemGenex Biologic Laboratories for selling an unapproved stem cell product as part of a crackdown on sales of regenerative medicines for unapproved indications. The warning letter also noted manufacturing process violations that could create a risk of microbial contamination.
The White House has issued a memorandum calling for reports and recommendations related to wireless technology, setting in motion a process intended to produce a national 5G connectivity strategy. At the same time, it made a blog post headlined "America Will Win the Global Race to 5G."
The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Pennsylvania infrastructure a C- in its latest report card, including a D+ for bridges, a D+ for roads, a D for public transit, a C for dams, a C for levees, a C+ for ports and a D for stormwater. "The grades ... reflect the current state of our infrastructure and are not reflections of the agencies in our state that are tasked with maintaining our infrastructure, often with limited budgets," Bob Dengler, president of the ASCE Pittsburgh section, says.
Trump administration efforts to roll back regulations related to oil and natural gas drilling likely will face increased scrutiny after Democrats take control of the House. "We don't see them rolling President Trump, but the pace of deregulation at EPA will probably slow down because officials will be much busier dealing with subpoenas," said Robert McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group.
The airline industry is an example of how offering clear pricing tiers, starting with a cheap option that offers little or no perks, sets customer expectations and helps them decide whether to spend more, write Thomas A. Stewart and Patricia O'Connell. "By creating a class of service many passengers shun, basic economy appears to have made ordinary service seem less bad," they write.
The Transportation Security Administration is getting ready to screen an estimated 25 million passengers between Nov. 16 and Nov. 26. The agency is adding 80 canines and 1,200 TSA officers to help keep lines moving smoothly.