8 October 2022

Image caption,

Andy Johnson says he is fully booked as demand for chimney sweeps soars

A chimney sweep says he has never been busier as rising energy bills turn people towards other ways to heat their homes.

Andy Johnson, who works in Herefordshire, is fully booked until the end of November, he says.

As the National Grid warns of potential blackouts, Mr Johnson adds he has had messages from customers who say their fires may be their only heating option.

The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps says it is the same across the country.

“This is the busy season anyway for a chimney sweep but this year in particular it’s really busy,” said Mr Johnson.

“I’m having a lot of new customers that are thinking of opening up the stoves and having it reused. I can’t even answer my phone in the daytime it’s that busy.”

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Fire services have warned people to take precautions when using stoves and wood-burners

Mr Johnson said he had received a request from a woman asking him to sweep her chimney “in case it becomes my only form of heat this winter”.

“I try my best to get round everybody but the demand is too much,” he said.

Lawson Wight, chair of the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps, said there was a huge demand for sweeps across the country but urged caution when using fireplaces that had been out of use for a while.

It followed a warning from a number of fire services about how to safely use alternative heating methods.

“We absolutely understand that saving money on bills will be the priority for many,” a West Midlands Fire Service spokesperson said.

“We’re concerned that some people might take risks to save money, potentially putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”

The service advised people to ensure they used the correct fuel for wood-burning stoves and open fires and to regularly have their chimneys swept.

The post Chimney sweeps ‘busier than ever’ as power costs rise appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

One of the U.S.’s most scrutinized home markets showed positive numbers in August following a year of falling prices, according to a report Sunday from Compass.

The Bay Area’s median house sales price rose 5% year over year in August, reversing a 12-month trend of annual home price declines—with prices down as much as 19% earlier this year. 

For the overall Bay Area, the median house sales price in August was $1.26 million, up from $1.2 million a year ago.

San Mateo ranked No. 1 in the Bay Area with a median price of $1.987 million.

Within the nine-county region that was analyzed, there were varying appreciation rates— — with some up, some still down on a year-over-year basis— — but all are moving in a distinctly positive direction. It’s likely that all Bay Area counties will see prices up annually within the next few months, the report said. 

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“The significant improvement in market dynamics in the Bay Area is a strong riposte to the many recent articles suggesting it has entered a so-called socioeconomic ‘doom loop,’” said Patrick Carlisle, Compass’s chief market analyst for the Bay Area. 

Bay Area real estate was hit harder by the mid-2022 market correction—which ended the surging price growth seen throughout  the pandemic—than most areas of the country, according to Carlisle, but “with buyer demand rebounding and inventory levels low, prices are once again climbing on a year-over-year basis,” he said. 

 Current prices are still well below historic peaks seen in spring 2022, at the end of the tech industry and pandemic-led housing booms.Nevertheless, buyer demand has rebounded in 2023 from the deep low point of late 2022; combined with a substantial decline in new listings, this has created an imbalance in supply and demand, leading to faster sales, more multiple offers and more sales over asking price. The recovery in prices, along with high interest rates, has led to a further reduction in housing affordability for those purchasing with home loans. Perhaps as a consequence, according to the National Association of Realtors, the percentage of buyers purchasing all-cash has generally been running at an eight-year high nationally. 

When analyzing the comparative three-month-rolling median house sales prices by county, reflecting June-August sales, the top four counties—San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin and San Francisco—all came in between $1.5 million-$2 million, which ranks among the highest median home prices in the country. 

The highest end of the market has been particularly strong, as the number of homes selling for $5 million and above hit 86 last month, a record high for August and jumping 39% year over year.. 

Of those $5 million-plus sales, 80% sold below their original asking price, and 14% sold for over original asking price. The median sale closed at a price 7% below original asking price, and the average discount off original median list price was $395,000. 

“With interest rates over 7%, housing affordability remains a huge regional issue, but not enough to outweigh motivated buyers competing for an inadequate supply of listings,” Carlisle said.

The post San Francisco-Space Dwelling Costs Rose for the First Time in a 12 months in August appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

8 October 2022

Image caption,

Andy Johnson says he is fully booked as demand for chimney sweeps soars

A chimney sweep says he has never been busier as rising energy bills turn people towards other ways to heat their homes.

Andy Johnson, who works in Herefordshire, is fully booked until the end of November, he says.

As the National Grid warns of potential blackouts, Mr Johnson adds he has had messages from customers who say their fires may be their only heating option.

The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps says it is the same across the country.

“This is the busy season anyway for a chimney sweep but this year in particular it’s really busy,” said Mr Johnson.

“I’m having a lot of new customers that are thinking of opening up the stoves and having it reused. I can’t even answer my phone in the daytime it’s that busy.”

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Fire services have warned people to take precautions when using stoves and wood-burners

Mr Johnson said he had received a request from a woman asking him to sweep her chimney “in case it becomes my only form of heat this winter”.

“I try my best to get round everybody but the demand is too much,” he said.

Lawson Wight, chair of the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps, said there was a huge demand for sweeps across the country but urged caution when using fireplaces that had been out of use for a while.

It followed a warning from a number of fire services about how to safely use alternative heating methods.

“We absolutely understand that saving money on bills will be the priority for many,” a West Midlands Fire Service spokesperson said.

“We’re concerned that some people might take risks to save money, potentially putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”

The service advised people to ensure they used the correct fuel for wood-burning stoves and open fires and to regularly have their chimneys swept.

The post Chimney sweeps ‘busier than ever’ as power costs rise appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

But the Bay Area cannot keep up with the spectacular collapse of prices during Housing Bust 1. That had been a doozie.

By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.

In San Francisco, the median price of single-family houses dropped by 8.5% in July from June, and by 14.1% from a year ago, to $1,460,000 million, according to the California Association of Realtors today.

In the 16 months since the peak in March 2022, the median price has plunged by 29%, or by $600,000 (red line).

The three-month moving average (3mma), which irons out some of the monthly ups-and-downs of median prices, fell by 2.6% in July from June and was down by 23.1%, or by $474,500, from its peak in May 2022 (green line).

Housing market downturns are slow-moving. Prices don’t plunge overnight, as you’ve come to expect from cryptos. Housing market downturns take years to play out. Housing Bust 1 started in different markets at different times. In San Francisco, the median price peaked in May 2007. Nearly five years later, in February 2012, it bottomed out, having dropped 31% from the peak.

Housing Bust 2 started after the peak in May 2022. May was month zero, and we’re now in month 16 of this downturn.

So we started comparing the Housing Bust 2 in San Francisco against Housing Bust 1, in terms of the percentage drop from the peak.

In 2007, the median price peaked in May; in 2022, it peaked in March. So we’re off by two months, which adds some seasonality to the mix. But we’re using the 3mma for both periods, which irons out some of the seasonality.

So we find:

• HB 2: In month 16, the median price 3mma was down 23.8% from peak
• HB 1: In month 16, the median price 3mma was down 13.6% from peak.
• Both experienced a sucker rally of three months that started in month 10 for HB 1 and in month 12 for HB 2, providing lots of false hopes.
• The rally was steeper in HB 2, after prices had dropped a lot faster.
• After three months, both rallies died and prices headed south, extinguishing the false hopes.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the median price of single-family houses dropped by 5.2% in July from June, by 0.8% from a year ago, to $1,255,000, as the different counties moved to different drummers.

In the 15 months since the peak in April 2022, the median price has plunged by 16.3%, or by $245,000.

Given the large size of the nine-county Bay Area, with a population of around 7.6 million people and about ten times as many transactions as in San Francisco alone, the median price is less volatile. So the 3mma was not needed, and all comparisons here are between the unsmoothed original median prices.

The Bay Area’s Housing Bust 1 was atypical in how fast it moved. April 2007 was the peak. By February 2009, in less than two years, it had plunged by 59%. It then rose and re-dropped a few times, and by January 2012, it was still down by 54% from May 2007. Then it took off again.

In the Bay Area’s Housing Bust 1, the median price plunged over the first 15 months by 40%. Prices just kept plunging without any kind of rally. That was very fast for housing downturns.

Housing Bust 2 started out plunging even faster, but then had this magnificent rally, perhaps driven by the magnificent Nasdaq rally, that has now also ended, and prices turned south again:

Look, the Bay Area, and particularly the most expensive counties, are a part of the US where “Housing Crisis” means homes are too expensive, even starter shacks are too expensive, for people to be able to afford to live here.

So there is constant political juggling over creating taxpayer-subsidized “affordable housing” and other subsidies. The problem simply is that homes are too expensive, and creating subsidies – whether subsidized housing or down-payment assistance, or whatever – isn’t going to help, and may make the pricing situation worse.

What is needed is for the market to sort out this “Housing Crisis.” The market needs to be allowed and encouraged to sort it out. That’s really the only way to solve the Housing Crisis.

The Fed’s interest rate repression and QE, which drove up all asset prices, did an amazing job in the SF Bay Area to create this Housing Crisis. Higher interest rates (we just discussed them, good lordy) and QT (the Fed has shed $759 billion in securities) should be allowed to undo that damage, with the market letting home prices find their balance to where people don’t have to leave – and they did leave in large numbers! – in order to dodge the ridiculous housing costs. The local economy would function a lot better if home prices are allowed to find an economically sustainable level.

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The post San Francisco Home Costs Plunged Quicker (-29%) in 16 Months of Housing Bust 2 than within the First 16 Months of Housing Bust 1 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Real Estate

By Mary K. Jacob

December 13, 2022 | 1:59pm

Luxury condo prices in the heart of downtown San Francisco have plummeted as drug abuse and crime have spiraled out control — and as many techies continue to work remotely.

Data analyzed by Compass shows the Golden Gate city — once pegged as the hottest real estate market globally — has since fallen fast.

The median sale price of a two-bedroom condo, for example, has fallen 16.5% since 2021, while sale prices in surrounding areas have slipped only 7%, according to the market report.

“I knew that market segment had weakened, but I didn’t realize the degree to which things had changed,” Patrick Carlisle, the chief market analyst for Compass, noted. “It was a bit shocking.”

“San Francisco went from being the hottest office market in the world to just about the weakest,” Carlisle added.

Since December of last year, the condo median sales price dropped from $1.47 million to $1.23 million in the greater downtown and South of Market district.

San Francisco condo prices are declining due crime, low vacancy rates and homelessness.

Getty Images

Compass doesn’t beat around the bush in this report, citing “a triple whammy of economic, demographic and quality-of-life issues.”

The report highlighted that high-rise housing intended to accommodate hundreds of thousands of workers who inundated the city each morning. But with people now working from home, demand for it has dwindled.

Since the massive exodus of workers, the rapid decline in housing prices has since been attributed to the area’s high crime rate and growing homeless population, which Carlisle explains has affected the “quality of life ambiance” that the city once offered.

A woman walks past men passed out on the sidewalk in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco. REUTERS

“High tech workers were the ones who were most likely to say, ‘well if I can work from any place, I’ll move some place where housing costs 90 percent less.”‘

The report also comes months after it was revealed that San Francisco’s ultra-luxurious Four Seasons Residences sold just 13 of its 146 units in the two years since its opening.

Prospective buyers, who included Steph and Ayesha Curry, have snubbed the high-rise, where condos are priced up to $49 million.

San Francisco occupancy is just at 39% as of late September — one of the lowest in the nation. Comparatively, New York City reported a 46% occupancy — and Los Angeles, which had 45% occupancy around the same time.

Carlisle explained that for the downtown condo market to make any sort of comeback, offices would need to start filling up again.

In 2020, San Francisco was in the top three cities with the highest property crime, according to data from the SF Chronicle. More than 4,400 incidents of property crime per 100,000 residents were reported.

In July 2022, the Chronicle asked 1,653 San Francisco residents which problem in the city needed to be addressed most urgently. Crime and public safety were the second most common answers after homelessness.

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• The cost of starter homes has grown in every US metro but three since last year, Redfin said.
• San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix starter home prices declined by 13.3%, 12.2%, and 9.7%, respectively.
• A Redfin economist said these markets have cooled as higher interest rates deter prospective buyers.

Bucking a national trend, starter-home prices in San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix are declining this year as homebuyer migration slows and the remote-work wave dies down.

A new report from Redfin identifies the three metros as the only in the country where the price of starter homes, defined as the 5th to 35th percentile of homes by sale price, declined year over year. Going along with that, they’re also the only three metros where the income needed to purchase a starter home declined.

That doesn’t mean that these starter homes are cheap, or the incomes needed to afford them are minuscule. According to Redfin, the median sale price of a starter home in San Francisco decreased 13.3% to $910,000; in Austin, decreased 12.2% to $347,300; and in Phoenix, decreased 9.7% to $325,000. The incomes now needed to afford those homes amount to $241,200, $92,000, and $86,100, respectively.

Sheharyar Bokhari, a senior economist with Redfin, told Insider that each of these markets are experiencing whiplash after several years of robust buyer demand and price growth. 

“Home prices in these cities rose the fastest in the country when interest rates were low, but when interest rates went up really high and quickly, those prices were not completely sustainable,” Bokhari said. “So, they’re moving first, in terms of price declines.”

San Francisco, which is one of the fastest-cooling housing markets in the nation, has seen its median listing price fall 8.8% year over year to $1.4 million as of June, according to data from Redfin. Homes that are listed for sale are typically spending an average of 26 days on the market, compared to 18 days during the same time period in 2022.

“With mortgage rates being so high, not as many people are making that decision to buy a home in San Francisco right now,” Bokhari said. “I think the story there is that demand is just gone.” 

San Francisco has faced mounting issues, from millions of square feet of empty office space to “an epidemic of negative headlines that are keeping tourists and workers away,” Manus Clancy, a senior managing director at Trepp, previously told Insider. 

Austin has a similar story to San Francisco. The metro — which has blossomed into a bonafide tech hub over the past decade as companies like Apple, Google, Oracle, and Tesla have established headquarters in the area — has seen a drastic pullback in demand, even though it was a top destination for migrating homebuyers in 2021. 

“In the beginning of the pandemic, people moving into Austin were paying so much above the asking price that home values rose really fast,” Bokhari said. “However, people are now returning to offices and not moving in as much.” Local incomes won’t support those higher home prices so sellers are now reducing their prices to attract buyers, he said.  

Phoenix is the outlier of the bunch. The city is still seeing great demand from migrating buyers, despite its vulnerability to droughts. According to Redfin, it was the top market for buyers looking to relocate in June. 

So what’s driving the city’s home price declines? Similar to Austin and San Francisco, Bokhari chops it up to the ebb and flow of supply and demand. 

“There were a lot of iBuyers in Phoenix and when rates went up, those investors made losses on their properties,” he said. As demand falls and interest rates remain high, those investors are trying to reduce their presence in the market, which has helped to bring prices back down.

While starter home prices decreased in San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix, Redfin found that the typical starter home sold for a record $243,000 in June. That’s up 2.1% from June 2022 and up more than 45% from the same time period in 2019. For the average first-time buyer, that means an annual income of about $64,500 is needed to comfortably afford the purchase of a starter home — $7,200 more than in 2022.

“As prices for the most affordable homes continue to climb and rates remain elevated, it’s becoming more true that you have to be wealthy to buy a home — especially if it’s your first one,” Bokhari said in a statement. 

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Expect changes when you visit wine country this year. Like the rest of us, wineries are adjusting to a post-pandemic world and are unsure to what extent things will go back in time or what temporary measures taken over the last three years could become permanent. For us consumers, it’s a time to be adventurous but also be patient and let wineries know what’s working and what we’d like to see on our next visit.

Here are a few things to expect. Some of these predictions are contradictory and reflect the post-pandemic market uncertainty.

Tasting bars are back, so to speak.

The Covid restrictions ushered in an era – or at least an interregnum – of socially distanced seated tastings, where flights were ordered off the menu and brought to our table. It was like a restaurant with no food. Some wineries welcomed this change as it placed more emphasis on the wine and less on visiting the winery as a drinking pleasure. But it also meant less interaction between consumers and winery staff. That’s why wineries are now returning to the wine tastings of yesteryear, as they believe consumers want to learn more about the wines they’re tasting through interaction at the bar.

Unless, of course, they don’t.

“Some people want reservations, some people want things to go back to how they were,” says George Hodson, executive director of Veritas Vineyard and Winery west of Charlottesville, Virginia, and current president of the Virginia Wineries Association. So the reserved tastings can stay in place, and customers looking to enjoy a contemplative hour of vinous fun cast a sideways glance at the rowdy, super-spreader crowd at the bar.

In an email exchange, Hodson said the wineries want visitors to expand their knowledge and appreciation of Virginia wine. But apparently consumers have other things on their minds.

“Guests have changed and want experiences instead of just wine tasting,” Hodson said. That means food, music and entertainment. “They consume what they buy locally instead of taking it home,” he added. That means they’re also buying less wine and not building extensive wine collections.

Fees for tastings are likely to increase.

Tasting fees are nothing new, but Covid has accelerated the trend and inflation has increased price pressure on wineries. “Prices of all products are going up, so the tasting fee is pretty much universal,” says Hodson. He hopes this will shrink the market for coaches, which ferry large groups from one winery to the next in an all-day drinking spree.

In California, fees have skyrocketed in the Napa Valley. An “upscale” wine tasting there averages more than $82 per person, down from $30 just six years ago, according to Esther Mobley in the San Francisco Chronicle. Save and plan ahead.

Earlier this year, Tablas Creek Winery in Paso Robles, California, announced that it had converted its tasting room to casks and would no longer be serving bottled samples. The switch to kegs supports the winery’s ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and also improves the winery’s bottom line by saving up to 9,000 bottles per year that no longer need to be purchased, bottled and labeled, the general manager said Jason Hass.

“What’s the most useless glass bottle?” Haas asked rhetorically. “One who never leaves the winery.”

Meanwhile, in Darnestown, Maryland on the East Coast, Windridge Vineyards began experimenting with casks in its tasting room late last year and now has three wines on tap.

“We sell most of our wine locally and while we recycle our glass, we feel it’s best never to bottle the wine in the first place,” said winery owner Robert Butz.

Butz added that Windridge would like to get visitors to enjoy seated tastings that they can enjoy at their leisure, rather than crowded with strangers at the bar.

“We’re debating whether our approach is the right one, because a tasting is a great way to showcase to customers,” Butz told me. However, “a rushed or unprofessional tasting can be worse than none at all, and at least on the wine flights, the customer can enjoy the wine tastings at their own pace.”

At Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Maryland, a cask facility allows customers to taste an unfinished wine or component of a blend while it is still in the cask. On my last visit, the cask featured a tasting of Sauvignon Blanc from Live Edge Vineyard, Black Ankle’s new venture in northern Montgomery County.

“When we taste wine from a cask or cask, we can experiment a bit with what we let the customer taste,” says Sarah O’Herron, co-owner and winemaker at Black Ankle. “We’ve tasted red wines that have only been in cask for six months, single varietals that we would never bottle ourselves, and pure wine wines – basically giving customers a look behind the winemaking process in a way we couldn’t do with bottled wines .” She adds.

So plan ahead if you visit wine country this year. Check out winery websites to see what experiences they offer. Be patient and flexible with your time. And be on the lookout for something new.

The post Wineries’ new covid actuality: Increased tasting costs and kegs appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Kommentar

Guten Morgen und danke fürs Lesen. Möchte jemand einen Hund und eine Ziege adoptieren? Diese besten Freunde sind für dich.

Das im Internet lesen? Melden Sie sich für The Health 202 an, um jeden Morgen Informationen und scharfe Analysen in Ihrem Posteingang zu erhalten.

Die heutige Ausgabe: Die Bundesaufsichtsbehörden genehmigten den rezeptfreien Verkauf eines wichtigen Arzneimittels zur Umkehrung einer Opioid-Überdosierung. Ein weiterer Covid-Beamter des Weißen Hauses verlässt (meistens) das Team. Aber zuerst …

Fast die Hälfte der Staaten haben Insulinkappen bestanden. Bald könnten weitere hinzukommen.

Neue Preisobergrenzen für Insulin, die von den führenden Herstellern des Landes angekündigt wurden, haben kürzlich Schlagzeilen gemacht, aber die Bemühungen, den Preis des lebensrettenden Medikaments zu senken, schreiten auch in den Staaten voran.

Gesetzgeber zumindest 11 Staaten – einschließlich Arizona, Kalifornien Und Missouri — haben in diesem Jahr Rechnungen eingeführt, um die monatlichen Auslagen für bestimmte Patienten mit Diabetes zu begrenzen. Es scheint, dass hinter solchen Bemühungen eine frühe Dynamik steckt, aber es bleibt unklar, wie sich die Maßnahmen in dieser Legislatursaison entwickeln werden.

Die Rechnungen gehören zu einem steigenden Trend, der 2019 begann, als Colorado wurde der erste Staat, der eine Insulinkappe verabschiedete. In den Jahren seitdem 22 Staaten Und Gleichstrom haben Kostenteilungsgrenzen für das Medikament überschritten, die von reichen $25 Zu $100 pro 30-Tage-Vorrat. Die meisten dieser Grenzen gelten jedoch nur für staatlich regulierte Krankenversicherungen, sodass Lücken bestehen bleiben (dazu später mehr).

Insulin wird täglich von über verwendet 7 Millionen Amerikaner mit Diabetes, um ihren Blutzuckerspiegel zu kontrollieren. Das Medikament kostet im Allgemeinen weniger als 10 $ pro Fläschchen zu produzieren, doch die Listenpreise von Insulin haben sich in den letzten zehn Jahren verdoppelt und in einigen Fällen verdreifacht, so ein Bericht von parteiübergreifenden Ermittlern des Senats aus dem Jahr 2021. Die steigenden Preise haben einige Patienten dazu veranlasst, ihr Insulin zu rationieren, was zu tödlichen Komplikationen führen kann.

• „Dies ist eines dieser Probleme, das so viel Sinn macht, dass wir uns fragen, warum wir es nicht viel früher getan haben“, sagte der Senator des Bundesstaates Montana. Jason Klein (R), der Hauptsponsor einer Rechnung, die die Insulinkosten begrenzen würde $35 pro Monat im Staat.

Demokraten im Senat von Illinois:

Chief Cosponsor @SenatorHolmes sagt, dass einer von 12 Menschen in Illinois auf Insulin angewiesen ist – diese Änderung bestätigt, dass sie genauso viel Recht auf lebensrettende Medizin haben, wie wir alle sollten. Gesundheitsversorgung sollte nicht nur den Reichen zugänglich sein. pic.twitter.com/OJXNjfSR3i

– IL-Senatsdemokraten (@ILSenDems) 28. März 2023

Die Senkung der Insulinkosten hat sich zu einem politisch beliebten Thema bei Gesetzgebern auf beiden Seiten des Ganges entwickelt, nachdem Patientenvertreter vor einigen Jahren begonnen haben, sich auf das Thema zu konzentrieren. Acht aus dem 11 Staaten wo der Gesetzgeber in diesem Jahr Insulinpreisobergrenzen vorgeschlagen hat, haben entweder eine von den Republikanern kontrollierte Legislative, einen GOP-Gouverneur oder beides.

• „Das Problem der Preise für verschreibungspflichtige Medikamente … trifft auf jede Art von parteiischer Kluft, weil es so viele Menschen betrifft“, sagte der Abgeordnete des Bundesstaates Minnesota. Michael Howard (D), der Hauptsponsor einer Rechnung zur Begrenzung der Insulinkosten $25 pro Monat für Einwohner mit gesetzlicher Krankenversicherung. „Insbesondere die Frage der Bezahlbarkeit von Insulin ist in den Vordergrund gerückt.“

Neuer Trendalarm: In mindestens fünf Staaten, hat der Gesetzgeber Gesetze eingeführt, um die Kostenbeteiligungsgrenzen für das Medikament weiter zu verschärfen. Früher in diesem Monat, Gouverneur von West Virginia Jim Gerechtigkeit (R) unterzeichnete einen parteiübergreifenden Gesetzentwurf zur Senkung der Zuzahlungsobergrenze des Staates $100 Zu $35 für eine 30-tägige Versorgung mit Insulin.

Der neue Vorstoß kommt, wenn die Staaten versuchen, ihre Obergrenzen an die anzupassen $35 Insulingrenzwert für Medicare-Begünstigte, der im Inflation Reduction Act enthalten war, den der Kongress letztes Jahr verabschiedete, Lisa MurdockHauptanwalt bei der American Diabetes Association, sagte The Health 202.

Eine weitere Idee, die an Bedeutung gewinnt, besteht darin, die Kosten der Patienten für Geräte und Ausrüstung zur Behandlung von Diabetes, wie Glukosemessgeräte, Insulinpumpen und Spritzen, zu begrenzen. Der Gesetzgeber hat zumindest Rechtsvorschriften erlassen, um eigene Versorgungsobergrenzen festzulegen sieben Staaten diese Sitzung, einschließlich in Kansas, KentuckyUnd Massachusetts. Wenn sie bestanden würden, würden sie in die Fußstapfen von treten Connecticut, Delaware Und Gleichstrom

Warum es wichtig ist: Mit Krankenversicherung könnte eine Person mit Diabetes mehr als ausgeben 3.200 $ laut einem Bericht vom April 2020 jedes Jahr aus eigener Tasche für medizinische Versorgung GutRx, die die Preise für verschreibungspflichtige Medikamente in den Vereinigten Staaten verfolgt. Diese Kosten werden für die Nichtversicherten sogar noch höher geschätzt.

Reality-Check: Staatliche Insulinobergrenzen können nur für staatlich regulierte Pläne gelten, wie z. B. Krankenversicherungen für Staatsbedienstete, voll versicherte Pläne, die normalerweise von kleineren Arbeitgebern angeboten werden, und einige Versicherungspolicen, die auf den Marktplätzen des Affordable Care Act verkauft werden. Sie lassen im Allgemeinen Personen mit selbstversichertem Arbeitgeberschutz (der normalerweise von großen Unternehmen angeboten wird) sowie die Nichtversicherten aus. Medicaid-Begünstigte sind in der Regel auch nicht betroffen, da sie bereits wenig bis gar nichts für ihr Insulin bezahlen.

Das heißt nicht, dass der Kongress und private Unternehmen keine Maßnahmen ergreifen können. Anfang dieses Monats gaben die drei führenden Insulinhersteller des Landes bekannt, dass sie die Listenpreise einiger ihrer Insulinprodukte um bis zu senken würden 78 Prozent unter wachsendem Druck von Politikern und Patienten.

Nun drängen staatliche Gesetzgeber den Kongress, die Insulinobergrenze von Medicare noch einen Schritt weiter zu gehen und Gesetze zu verabschieden, die Diabetikern finanzielle Erleichterungen gewähren, die von staatlichen Grenzwerten nicht abgedeckt werden. „Wir versuchen, auf staatlicher Ebene jeden Hebel zu betätigen, den wir können, aber wir brauchen auch den Kongress, um Maßnahmen zu ergreifen“, sagte Howard.

Gegenmittel gegen Überdosierung Narcan soll rezeptfrei erhältlich sein

Der Lebensmittel- und Arzneimittelverwaltung hat Narcan ohne Rezept zum Kauf zugelassen und damit den Weg freigemacht, um den Zugang zu Nasenspray zu erweitern, das Opioid-Überdosierungen umkehrt, unser Kollege David Ovalle Berichte.

Die Entscheidung wurde von Befürwortern mit Spannung erwartet, die bestrebt sind, den Zugang zu dem Medikament zu verbessern, für dessen Verabreichung keine spezielle Schulung erforderlich ist. Die Entscheidung der FDA kam am selben Tag vom Heimatschutzminister Alexander Mayorkas sagte vor einem Senatsgremium, dass die Rekordzahl von Amerikanern, die an Fentanyl-Überdosen sterben, die „größte Herausforderung ist, vor der wir als Land stehen“.

Aber es tauchen Fragen auf, die bestimmen könnten, wie einfach es für Amerikaner sein wird, rezeptfreies Narcan zu kaufen, das voraussichtlich bis zum Spätsommer erhältlich sein wird. Es hängt vom Preis des Arzneimittelherstellers ab Emergente BioLösungen Sets für das Spray, und das Unternehmen hat noch nicht bekannt gegeben, wie viel es verlangen wird.

Es hängt auch davon ab, wie bereit Einzelhändler sind, es vor den Augen der Verbraucher in die Verkaufsregale zu stellen. Ein CVS-Beamter teilte David mit, dass geplant sei, das Medikament in seinen mehr als 9.000 Apotheken im ganzen Land verfügbar zu machen. Walgreens sagte, es werde rezeptfreies Narcan „sowohl im Laden als auch online landesweit“ anbieten und arbeite „bereits mit Lieferanten zusammen, um dieses OTC-Medikament in die Regale zu bringen“.

FDA-Kommissar Robert Califf:

Wir ermutigen den Hersteller, die Zugänglichkeit des Produkts zu einer Priorität zu machen, indem er es so schnell wie möglich und zu einem erschwinglichen Preis verfügbar macht.

– Dr. Robert M. Califf (@DrCaliff_FDA) 29. März 2023

Aus den Notizbüchern unserer Reporter

Unser Kollege Dan Diamond schickt uns diese Depesche:

Ein weiterer Beamter des Weißen Hauses verlässt (meistens) das Team: Nahid Bhadelia, Dan, die dazu beigetragen hat, die globale Covid-Reaktion des Weißen Hauses zu steuern, gibt diese Woche ihre Vollzeitstelle auf, wird dem Team jedoch weiterhin bis zum Ende des Notfalls im Bereich der öffentlichen Gesundheit im Mai helfen, schöpft Dan.

“DR. Nahid Bhadelia wird das COVID-19-Reaktionsteam des Weißen Hauses während der gesamten Dauer der Abwicklung weiterhin in begrenztem Umfang unterstützen“, schrieb ein Verwaltungsbeamter in einer E-Mail an The Post.

Bhadelia, a Boston Universität Arzt für Infektionskrankheiten, ist der jüngste Beamte, der aus dem Weißen Haus ausscheidet, während das Team seine Arbeit beendet. Sie trat im vergangenen Sommer in die Regierung ein und arbeitete an Themen wie den globalen Auswirkungen, wenn China seinen Null-Covid-Ansatz aufgibt, und bemühte sich um die Sicherstellung von Impfungen im Ausland.

„Ich habe diesen Job angenommen, weil ich fest davon überzeugt bin, dass Pandemien dazu neigen, uns entlang bekannter Bruchlinien zu brechen. Ungerechtigkeiten machen eine Pandemie für alle tödlicher“, sagte Bhadelia letztes Jahr gegenüber JAMA.

Die Republikaner von Idaho versuchen, den „Abtreibungshandel“ für Minderjährige zu verbieten, die zu Verfahren reisen

Der Senat von Idaho soll über einen Gesetzentwurf abstimmen, der Minderjährigen die zwischenstaatliche Reise für eine Abtreibung verbieten würde, und rückt damit näher, der erste Staat zu werden, der das verbietet, was die Republikaner als „Abtreibungshandel“ bezeichnen, The Post Timotheus Bella schreibt.

Anfang dieser Woche, die Ausschuss für Staatsangelegenheiten des Senats von Idaho stimmte zu, den Gesetzentwurf in der Kammer über den von der GOP geführten Gesetzentwurf des Repräsentantenhauses vollständig abzustimmen, der die Fähigkeit von Minderjährigen einschränken würde, für eine Abtreibung ohne Zustimmung der Eltern zu reisen, einschließlich in Staaten, in denen das Verfahren legal ist. Unter House Bill 242 könnten Straftaten gegen jeden Erwachsenen erhoben werden, der „mit der Absicht, eine Abtreibung vor den Eltern oder dem Vormund einer schwangeren, nicht emanzipierten Minderjährigen zu verbergen, entweder eine Abtreibung beschafft … oder ein abtreibungsauslösendes Medikament erhält“ für a unerheblich.

Die Details: Das Gesetz wird voraussichtlich den Senat mit einigen Änderungen passieren und wurde Anfang dieses Monats im Repräsentantenhaus gebilligt. Gouverneur Brad Little (R) wird voraussichtlich auch die Maßnahme unterzeichnen, die einer der Sponsoren des Gesetzentwurfs als Gesetzentwurf für Elternrechte verfochten hat. Der Vorschlag wurde von Demokraten, Angehörigen der Gesundheitsberufe und Befürwortern des Rechts auf Abtreibung kritisiert, die argumentieren, dass die meisten Jugendlichen, die mit einer unerwarteten Schwangerschaft konfrontiert sind, ihre Eltern in ihre Entscheidungsfindung einbeziehen, dies jedoch nicht immer möglich ist.

• In einer weitgehend symbolischen Abstimmung des Senats hat einen Beschluss gefasst die nationale Notstandserklärung zum Coronavirus, die weitaus weniger weitreichende Befugnisse hat als der Notfall im Bereich der öffentlichen Gesundheit. Beide sollten am 11. Mai enden und Mehrheitsführer im Senat werden Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) sagte Kollegen, dass Biden kein Veto gegen die Maßnahme einlegen werde, The Post’s Liebe Paybarah Berichte.
• Heute im Angebot: Hausdemokraten werden die wieder einführen Frauengesundheitsschutzgesetz, die ein Bundesrecht auf Abtreibung begründen würde. Der Gesetzentwurf enthält auch neue Bestimmungen, die darauf abzielen, das Recht zu schützen, über Staatsgrenzen zu reisen, um eine Abtreibung zu erhalten, sowie Schutzmaßnahmen für Personen, die anderen beim Zugang zu dem Verfahren helfen.
• Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) wird zurück in den Senat in der Woche vom 17. April nach mehr als einem Monat stationärer Behandlung wegen klinischer Depression, The Post’s Liz Goodwin Berichte.
• Gesetzgeber von Kentucky eine pauschale Rechnung verabschiedet gestern, das den Umgang von Ärzten und Schulen mit Transgender-Jugendlichen einschränktdas Veto des Gouverneurs und energische Einwände von staatlichen Ärztekammern, Bildungsbeamten und Eltern mit Transkindern außer Kraft setzen, unser Kollege Wilhelm Eins schreibt.

TikTok macht für viele Mädchen süchtig, besonders für Frauen mit Depressionen (von Donna St. George l The Washington Post)

Der Krebs eines Green Berets änderte das Gesetz über das Fehlverhalten des Militärs. Seine Behauptung wurde immer noch abgelehnt. (Von Ian Shapira | Die Washington Post)

Um zu ihren eigenen Bedingungen zu sterben, wendet sich eine Frau aus Connecticut an Vermont (von Lola Fadulu | The New York Times)

Danke fürs Lesen! Bis morgen.

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It was 1987 and the town of St. Francis was in turmoil.

The San Francisco Giants, emboldened by their first winning season in half a decade, decided to increase the price of a single beer to two whole dollars while shrinking the cup size from 16 to 14 ounces. Fans threatened revolt.

“Don’t you realize that statistics can’t lie?” Kevin Blackwell of San Francisco wrote on the Chronicle’s letters page. “I can stay at home and watch the games on cable and drink my own beer for a reasonable price!”

The outrage eventually subsided, perhaps that same day. The franchise made it into the off-season for the first time since 1971, setting a record attendance and presumably selling many, many beers. In fact, they raised the prices again the next year.

After decades of near-constant beer price hikes — and the resulting outrage — Giants President Larry Baer announced a price cut two weeks ago — the Giants’ cheapest beer would be cut from $14 to $9 for the 2023 season. (A sentence worthy of an asterisk, more on that later.)

That sent us to The Chronicle’s archives to find the biggest price hikes, landmark brew moments, and most expensive beer (adjusted for inflation) over the team’s 66 years at Seals Stadium, Candlestick, and Oracle Park.

Bits are missing — multi-year stretches where The Chronicle didn’t cover Giants beer prices. But we were still able to collect anecdotes, quotes and dates from more than two dozen beer stories from 1960 to 2023.

1960

The first price increase

From the moment the Giants arrived in San Francisco, they were unstoppably attached to beer. Seals Stadium in the Mission District was at different times adjacent to Rainier, Hamm’s, and Lucky Lager breweries, and Anchor Brewing Co. was less than a mile away. The Hamm Brewery sign with its neon goblet was visible from first base and outfield.

Beer cost a steady 35 cents during the team’s two years at the stadium from 1958 to 1959, but with the switch to Candlestick it rose to 40 cents – equivalent to $4.06 in 2023.

Fans apparently accepted the price increase. They were much more outraged about the new parking fee of 75 cents on the stick.

The original San Francisco Giants lineup with the Hamm’s Brewery sign in the background. Joe Rosenthal / Chronicle Archives

1971

“Premium” beer is coming

1971 was a milestone for franchise journalism at the San Francisco Chronicle. At least three articles have been written about food and drink prices after beer prices rose a nickel to 55 cents and a “premium” beer was introduced at 60 cents. ($4.54 in 2023 dollars.)

(The brand was not specified, but in the 1970s and 1980s in a ballpark, “premium” often meant Michelob or Lowenbrau, and later Heineken.)

Chronicle columnist Prescott Sullivan was outraged but even more angered by the 5-cent hike in peanut prices to a quarter that included this investigative nugget:

“We counted the peanuts and found there were 45 in the bag,” Sullivan wrote. “Last year we counted 50. What would those five missing peanuts mean if not creeping inflation?”

A vendor sells hot dogs in a nearly empty Candlestick Park at a 1976 San Francisco Giants game. John Storey / The Chronicle 1976

1978

Best beer deal ever

If you want to get your time machine running and travel back for the best baseball beer deal in San Francisco, turn the dial to 1978. Our inflation calculator says that at 85 cents – $3.98 in 2023 dollars – this is the best deal in the history of Giants beer was .

(The team wasn’t bad either. Vida Blue, Jack Clark and Darrell Evans led the team to 89 wins.)

San Francisco Giants pitcher John Montefusco, seen here with Joe DiMaggio, was the team’s opening day starter between 1976 and 1978. Peter Breinig/The Chronicle

1985

Harry M. Stevens cries poor

Since Candlestick Park was owned by the city, any increase in concession prices for Giants and 49ers had to go before the Recreation and Park Commission. Occasionally there was debate, but the commissioners approved any changes to our research.

This includes 1985 when, after 25 years of nickel price increases, the cheapest beer rose by a quarter from $1.25 to $1.50 at the concession stand and from $1.75 to $2 when sold by vendors claiming that the Inflation would wipe out the concession gains.

“The stadium’s concessionaire, Harry M. Stevens Inc., said the increase was necessary to cover higher costs for food, beverages and wages since the beer price increase in 1981,” reported The Chronicle.

Leo Sperandeo Jr. and other fans cheer on the San Francisco Giants during a 1981 game at Candlestick Park. Steve Ringman/The Chronicle 1981

1987

A beer selling apocalypse

The year 1986 was an exciting time for Giants fans. The economy improved, Will Clark had a promising rookie season, and viewership, which had waned in the 1970s, returned.

These crowds loved to drink, and team officials blamed the increasing complaints about baseball fights on beer sales. The next year, in 1987, the Giants banned itinerant vendors from selling beer and restricted sales to concession stands.

“The Giants have taken beer sales off the stands to try to stop unruly fans from drinking,” reports The Chronicle. “Stevens will be selling beers – but only two to one customer – from new stands behind the stands.”

Harry M. Stevens concessionaires said the move would see them under and asked the Rec and Park Commission to raise prices on all items except their hot dog, which stayed at $1.25. A 24-ounce “Premium” beer went from $2.25 to $3 – a staggering $8.12 in 2023 and by far the largest price increase in team history at the time.

“Another bum for us fans,” wrote John S. Howard on The Chronicle’s letter page. “Anyone who has visited baseball fields will tell you that the food at Candlestick is very bad, the worst thing in the sport at any level.”

San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky lounges with his wife Jan while he watches kids play softball. Dravecky was the team’s opening-day starter in 1988. Scott Sommerdorf/The Chronicle

1991

A’s and Giants: Let ’em fight!

The Giants and A’s have mostly been embroiled in a marketing cold war for the past several decades, but in 1991 the rivalry erupted openly.

Officials at A began bragging about their new Round Table and Subway deals (the now-ridiculous “We prefer to create destination-style food” quote appeared in a Chronicle article), while the Giants bragged about it that their portions were larger.

The Chronicle correctly noted that both sides raised prices radically. The Giants’ cheapest beer went from $2.50 to $3, equivalent to $6.64 in 2023.

“A family of four,” wrote Chronicle reporter Gary Swan ominously, “could easily spend $75 on an afternoon or breezy evening at Candlestick.”

A Chronicle chart lists ballpark concession prices for the A’s and the Giants. The chronicle

2004

Giants admit their beers don’t come cheap

The team kept concession prices reasonably reasonable after moving from windy Candlestick to beautiful Pac Bell Park in 2000, and even slashed beer prices (for the first time ever, the Chronicle reports).

But in the years that followed, prices rose steadily again. In 2004, the team set its lowest beer price at $5.75 — and introduced a $7.75 “super premium beer” ($12.59 in 2023 dollars), which was reportedly the most expensive in baseball at the time .

This was also the year officials admitted their product was expensive, and what are you going to do about it?

“The public has come to accept that they pay more for things at events,” Centerplate Concessions’ Bill Greathouse told The Chronicle. “It’s like popcorn at the movies. You know it will cost more. If price is your only concern, you can pay a certain amount for beer and drink it at home. But Barry Bonds is here.”

A 2004 Chronicle article proclaimed Giants beer the most expensive in the West. The chronicle

2019

Set a dubious record

When the Giants moved to China Basin and the team funded the ballpark, they severed the Rec & Park Commission relationship and were free to set pricing without a commission check.

It also made reporting the cost of beer more difficult. The team claimed an $8.25 beer as the cheapest brew in 2019, The Chronicle reported — and indeed, there was a beer at that price somewhere in the ballpark.

But the team also debuted a 22-ounce premium beer valued at $19.25 — $23.01 in 2023 — which SFGate called the most expensive beer in Major League Baseball history.

(I attended at least half a dozen games in 2019 and remember drinking beers in the $11-$14 range.)

2023

The big beer price drop

Spurred on by KNBR radio host Brian Murphy, and no doubt faced with a less than incredible time off-season, Giants president Larry Baer announced on Feb. 24 that the cheapest beer at Oracle Park — homegrown beers like Coors and Bud Light — would crash from $14 to $9.

Type of. $9 beers were available in the 415 Club area of ​​the grandstands. That members-only price had allowed the Giants to claim middle-of-the-field status in 2022, when MLB beer prices were broken down by team. And since the Giants can now raise and lower their prices without filing papers with a San Francisco city commission, we’re taking the $14 demand at our word.

But a $5 drop is a $5 drop and a milestone in Giants beer history.

We’ll celebrate on opening day… by drinking a much more expensive Anchor Steam.

A fan holds up her beer during a Giants game against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park on September 27, 2022. Carlos Avila González/The Chronicle 2022

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SAN FRANCISCO — Real estate prices are rising across the country — overall. However, looking at individual markets, some Bay Area neighborhoods show that prices are down compared to a year ago.

Average single-family home prices rose 4% year over year to $378,700 in the fourth quarter. Prices were strongest in the Northeast last quarter, up 5.3%; followed by the south with a plus of 4.9%; the Midwest by 4% and the West by 2.6%, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But if you look at the market level, it’s clear that prices in some areas are down from last year. The upbeat regional numbers obscure that about 11% of the individual housing markets tracked by NAR — 20 out of 186 cities — saw home prices fall in the fourth quarter of last year.

“Some markets could see double-digit price declines, particularly some of the more expensive parts of the country, which have also seen weaker employment and more frequent outflows of residents to other areas,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Almost all of the most expensive places to shop are in the West, and half of the top 10 most expensive cities are in California. Several of these places are where prices fall the most.

San Jose was the most expensive place to buy a home in the United States in the fourth quarter. But that median price of $1,577,500 is actually 5.8% lower than a year ago — and prices there are already down 17% from the peak price of $1,900,000 in the second quarter of last year, according to NAR.

San Francisco saw the country’s largest year-over-year price drop last quarter, with an average price drop of $1,230,000 — down 6.1% year over year. San Francisco home prices are already down 21% in the fourth quarter from a peak of $1,550,000 in the second quarter.

Among the most expensive cities where prices fell were Anaheim, with an average price of $1,132,000, down 1.6% from a year ago; Los Angeles, with an average price of $829,100, fell 1.3%; and Boulder, Colorado, with an average price of $759,500, down 2.0%.

Other places with falling prices have seen the big price increases during the past few years’ hectic home buying market. They’re also typically attractive lifestyle destinations for people to relocate to, as remote work offers more flexibility. These include Boise, Idaho, where prices are down 3.4% year over year, and Austin, Texas, where prices are down 1.3%.

The good news for buyers looking for price relief is that the 4% average price increase in the fourth quarter is smaller than the 8.6% increase in the third quarter. In addition, the price increases are smaller, with far fewer markets posting double-digit gains in the fourth quarter.

“A slowdown in home prices is underway and is being welcomed, especially as the typical home price has risen 42% over the past three years,” Yun said, noting that these cost increases have far outpaced wage increases and consumer price inflation since 2019.

A fragmented market

For much of the pandemic, home prices across the country moved in one direction: up. Some hotspots like Austin and Boise saw prices soar. In other areas — particularly the Midwest — prices rose more moderately. However, with mortgage rates hovering near historic lows, buyers flocked.

That story changed last year when mortgage rates soared in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s historic campaign to curb inflation. Buying a house fell off a cliff. By the end of 2022, existing home sales were down nearly 18% from 2021 as prospective homebuyers exited the market, according to NAR.

Typically, a drop in buying demand would mean oversupply and ultimately lead to falling prices. But that, by and large, is not happening in the housing market.

Instead, single-family home prices rose in nearly 90% of the metro areas tracked by NAR in the fourth quarter: 166 out of 186 markets still recorded rising prices. The national median price for a single-family home rose 4% year over year to $378,700 last quarter.

How can that be?

A major reason for this phenomenon is that due to the chronic underbuild of affordable homes in the United States, there is a shortage of inventory, along with homeowners reluctant to part with the extremely low mortgage rates they have secured for the last several years have .

“Even with a projected decline in home sales this year, prices are expected to remain stable in the vast majority of markets due to extremely limited supply,” Yun said.

There are still places where property prices continue to rise at double-digit rates. The top 10 cities with the largest year-over-year price increases all posted gains of at least 14.5%, according to NAR, with seven of those markets being in Florida and the Carolinas.

Farmington, New Mexico, saw the largest price increase in the fourth quarter, up 20.3% year over year. It was followed by Sarasota, Florida, up 19.5%; Naples, Florida, up 17.2%; Greensboro, NC, up 17.0%; Myrtle Beach, SC, up 16.2%; Oshkosh, Wisconsin, up 16.0%; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, up 15.7%; El Paso, Texas, up 15.2%; Punta Gorda, Fla., up 15.2%; and Daytona Beach, Fla., by 14.5%.

How is affordability changing?

In the last quarter of 2022, a family was required to have a qualifying income of at least $100,000 to afford a 10% down payment mortgage in 71 markets, up from 59 in the previous quarter, according to NAR.

Still, there were 16 markets in which a family required a qualifying income of less than $50,000 to purchase a home, although this was down from 17 in the previous quarter. Some were Peoria, Illinois, where a family earning $33,660 may qualify for a loan; Waterloo, Iowa, with an income of $40,639; and Montgomery, Alabama, with income of $48,172.

According to NAR, the monthly mortgage payment for a typical existing single-family home with a 20% down payment was $1,969 nationwide in the fourth quarter. That’s a 7% increase from last year’s third quarter when the monthly payment was $1,838, but a big 58% increase — or a monthly increase of $720 — year over year.

This made the affordability picture even more difficult for many homebuyers. Families typically spent 26.2% of their income on mortgage payments, up from 25% in the previous quarter and 17.5% a year ago.

First-time buyers have obviously been pushed to a breaking point of affordability. They typically spent 39.5% of their family income on mortgage payments, up from 37.8% in the previous quarter. A mortgage is considered unpayable when the monthly installment, including principal and interest, is more than 25% of family income. In general, a common financial rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t spend more than 30% of your income on housing.

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