The cost of health care, and more

The cost of health care

America spent $2.6 trillion on health care last year. But a third of that spending—$750 billion—was squandered on unnecessary treatments and tests, byzantine paperwork, fraud, and other inefficiencies, according to a new analysis by the Institute of Medicine.

Associated Press

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The toll of medical costs on seniors

About 25 percent of seniors receiving Medicare spend all their savings and must sell their homes and other assets to pay for non-covered medical care in the last five years of life, a new study found. Nursing care accounts for much of that cost.

The Washington Post

America's fat pets

America’s pets are even more prone to obesity than its human residents. An estimated 60 percent of domestic cats and dogs in the U.S. are obese or overweight, and are thus at increased risk of diabetes, joint and mobility problems, and shortened life spans.

HuffingtonPost.com

Brooklyn's new wealth

The New York borough of Brooklyn, for decades a proud haven of gritty immigrants and the working class, is now the second most expensive community in the U.S., surpassing Honolulu, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley hub San Jose. Only Manhattan is pricier.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Public worker rolls: trimmed but still up

Since 2008, 716,000 state and local government workers have lost their jobs. But even so, public worker rolls are still 7.3 percent higher than they were in 2000.

New York Post

Fewer Americans are smoking

The percentage of Americans who smoke has fallen from 20.4 percent in 2008 to 18.9 percent today—the lowest ever. That drop followed a big hike in federal taxes on cigarettes to $1.01 a pack.

USA Today