Latest news with #Louisianans
American Press
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- American Press
'Check Out Louisiana' giving library cardholders access to museums
The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is among museums that are allowing patrons with a library card to visit free of charge. (Special to the American Press) Special to the American Press Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the State Library of Louisiana today announced library cardholders in several parishes can now visit select Louisiana museums free of charge through the new Check Out Louisiana Museums initiative. The pilot program expands the State Library's Check Out Louisiana campaign to allow library patrons in participating parishes to check out an electronic pass to participating museums at no cost. 'Louisiana boasts a colorful and fascinating history brought to life through the cultural and educational resources of our museums,' Nungesser said. 'Your library card can now be used to unlock Louisiana's incredible museum collections and the stories of the people, places, and events that make our state so unique and a place to Feed Your Soul .' Cardholders of participating libraries can visit to reserve an electronic pass for available dates at any of the following museums: the 1850 House, the Cabildo, Capitol Park Museum, E.D. White Historic Site, Louisiana Civil Rights Museum, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum, The National WWII Museum, New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint, the Presbytère, and the Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum. Last year the State Library launched the first phase of its Check Out Louisiana program, which provides free access to state parks and recreational areas. The second phase launched today adds museums and other cultural attractions to the program. 'The National WWII Museum is thrilled to be a partner in the launch of the Check Out Louisiana Museums program,' said Associate Vice President of Education Chrissy Gregg. 'Ensuring the museum is accessible to individuals and families across the state is a key goal for our institution. This exciting initiative helps Louisianans experience all the museum has to offer as a community resource and better understand why the war was fought and how it was won — and how it remains relevant to our lives 80 years after its conclusion.'
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A red state reckons with Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
WALKER, La. — Few states stand to lose as much from the megabill that President Donald Trump signed into law as Louisiana. With more poverty and disease than most of the country, Louisiana relies heavily on Medicaid benefits going to people who lack the means to cover a doctor's visit on their own. That fragile lifeline is now in jeopardy. The 'Big Beautiful Bill' that Trump muscled through Congress chops Medicaid spending by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. Out of sheer self-interest, Louisiana might seem a state that would fight to preserve Medicaid. About 35% of Louisianans under the age of 65 were covered by Medicaid in 2023, the most recent year data was available. That figure is the second highest among the 50 states, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organization. The state voted heavily for Trump in the 2024 election and, polling shows, appreciates the job he's doing as president. Louisiana loves Trump but needs Medicaid. How does a deep-red state reconcile the two? Interviews with a dozen Louisianans, most of whom supported Trump, suggest that many in the state have absorbed the arguments that Trump and his congressional allies used to sell the bill. A few warning signs for Trump emerged. Some of his voters aren't thrilled with what they describe as his bombast or are skeptical the measure will live up to its grandiose title. 'He's a jacka-- — he's the best jacka-- we've got,' said Jason Kahl, 56, wearing a shirt decorated like the American flag during a July 4 celebration in Mandeville, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. 'A lot of times he says things that we're thinking, but don't want to say out loud,' Lydia DeRouen, 66, a customer at Cat's Coffee and Creamery in DeRidder, Louisiana, said on a recent morning. The state's embrace of the new law points to a dynamic prevalent in the Trump era: If he says he wants something, that's good enough for many of his voters. 'I just support President Trump. Most everything he's doing, I'm in on it,' said Sue Armand, a 65-year-old retiree who attended a recent festival at a park in Walker, a city outside the state capital of Baton Rouge. Nationwide, the act will reduce the number of people receiving Medicaid by nearly 12 million over the next 10 years, the largest cutback since President Lyndon Johnson created the program 60 years ago as part of his 'Great Society' agenda. Among the bill's provisions are requirements that those between 19 and 64 years old work a minimum of 20 hours a week unless they are caring for a child or are disabled. The bill also limits states' ability to raise certain taxes to help pay for their share of Medicaid programs, which could cause cuts across the board. Real-world consequences could prove dramatic. 'A lot of people who will be impacted the most negatively are Trump voters,' said Silas Lee, a New Orleans-based pollster. 'We see that in different parts of the nation, where many other communities that supported Trump will experience severe cuts in services that are critical to their survival,' Lee added. Alyssa Custard of New Orleans worries what the wider cuts to Medicaid funding will mean for her family. Her 88-year-old mother suffers from dementia and goes to an adult day care center in New Orleans. Custard's mother, who worked as a preschool teacher most of her life, has little retirement savings and not enough to pay for long-term, private in-home care. Custard and her siblings have been providing care themselves and have been able to keep working because of the adult day care program. But that funding could now be in jeopardy with the cuts to Medicaid. 'My mom worked taking care of other people's kids in the educational system for 50 years,' Custard said. 'She paid into all these things, and now, when it's time for her to reap the benefits of what she paid into for a long time, you have this bill that is taking this away from her and all the other people.' A talking point that proponents used to pass the bill was that Medicaid is rife with abuse and that the changes would expel undeserving recipients from the rolls. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump loyalist who helped steer the bill through Congress, represents a swath of western Louisiana where nearly 25% of adults under 65 rely on Medicaid. Johnson has suggested that beneficiaries include able-bodied people who won't work and are thus 'defrauding the system.' 'There's a moral component to what we're doing. And when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in,' he said in May. That justification rings true to many in his home state, who believe that federal benefits more broadly are going to the wrong people. Jason Wallace, 37, an accountant working a 'Nibbles and Noshes' stand at the Walker festival, said that when it comes to Medicaid, 'Some of the stuff I've heard about [the new law is that it is] trying to keep illegals from taking advantage of our benefits that they don't pay into at all.' A common belief is that taxpaying citizens are getting shortchanged, giving rise to feelings of umbrage that Trump has managed to harness. The new law also makes cuts to a food assistance program known as SNAP. Along with Medicaid, Congress pared back SNAP benefits to create savings that would help offset the cost of extending the tax cuts Trump signed in his first term. 'You go stand in line and the lady in front of me has her nails done, her hair done and she's got food stamps. I work too hard for what I get,' said Charles Gennaro, 78, who was among those on the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline in Mandeville on July 4 as a bluegrass band played on an outdoor stage. 'People come into this country for no reason and get things that they shouldn't get,' he added. Nancy Adams, 50, who also turned out for the celebration in Mandeville, said: 'I'm a single mom. I raised my daughter, struggling every day. And yet these illegals come in and they can get everything. I'm paying for them. But I'm struggling to raise my daughter and I don't qualify for food stamps or anything.' Independent analyses of the Medicaid program show that most recipients are already employed. KFF released a report in May showing that in 2023, nearly two-thirds of those under 65 receiving Medicaid and not other forms of federal aid were working full or part time. Those who lacked jobs cited reasons that included school attendance, care-giving duties, illness, disability or other causes. A separate KFF report that month showed that 95% of Medicaid payments last year were made properly, while the vast majority of improper payments sprang from paperwork errors or administrative actions. Robin Rudowitz, director of KFF's program on Medicaid and the uninsured, cited government estimates that 10 million people could lose health insurance coverage under the new law. 'These are not people who were fraudulently on the program,' she said. Heading toward DeRidder in the western part of the state, a driver sees billboards advertising legal services for those who've endured car wrecks or injury or are in bankruptcy. A city of about 10,000, DeRidder is part of Johnson's congressional district. A Walmart in the city was doing brisk business last Sunday, with people stocking up on groceries and supplies. Some customers of varying ages weren't ambulatory and used motorized carts. Outside the store, Don Heston, 41, who works in the oil and gas industry, described Medicaid as a 'great idea,' but one that 'needs serious rework.' 'Lots of people who are on it shouldn't be. You have people that have paid into it their entire life. They're physically messed up. They can't work any more and they can't get it. But you have people who have never worked a job with any meaning and they're getting it that quick' he said, snapping his fingers, 'because they know the ins and outs of the system.' Weeding out those who are abusing the program might be a worthy goal, but Medicaid advocates worry that cuts won't be made with such precision. Those who truly need the help may get caught up in the purge, according to Keith Liederman, CEO of Clover, the organization that serves Alyssa Custard's mother. 'In the state of Louisiana, it's many of the same staunch supporters of our president who are going to suffer as a result of this bill, and especially in rural areas of our state, of which there are many, many struggling individuals and families, many of whom are supporters of the president,' Liederman said. Clover is bracing for severe cuts that could cause it to shutter its adult day care service entirely, Liederman added. 'It's confounding to me how so many people throughout our country, when they think about people who are economically poor and struggling, think that there's something wrong with them, that they're not trying hard enough, that they're not working hard enough, that they're shirkers trying to abuse the system,' he said. 'That couldn't be further from the truth based on my direct experience in working with thousands of people who are in these positions. I've never seen people who work harder and who are trying harder to get out of poverty than the people that we serve and so many others in our community.' If health centers that rely on Medicaid patients are forced to close, it will affect patients with other forms of health insurance as well, who also rely on those providers in their community. At the David Raines Community Health Centers in northwest Louisiana, which includes several clinics in Johnson's district, officials are preparing to make cuts to their services as they anticipate a significant drop-off in the number of their patients with health insurance as a result of changes in the bill, David Raines CEO Willie White said. 'It really is going to be devastating, to say the least, for the patients that we serve and for other community health centers as a whole, as to how we're going to be able to continue to provide the level of access that we currently provide,' White said. 'I'm just not sure how it's going to work.' Clocking in at nearly 900 pages, the act brims with policy changes that will take time for voters across the country to digest. Trump directed Republican lawmakers to pass it by July 4, and they complied. So far, the bulk of this pro-Trump state seems pleased that they did. But some who voted for Trump are waiting and watching. They know the new law is big; they're just not sure yet whether it's beautiful. Jennifer Bonano, 52, is a retail clerk who came to the festival in Walker. Sitting in her folding chair, she said she voted for Trump but isn't persuaded yet that the new law is all that was advertised. 'You don't want the people that need the Medicaid and that need the food assistance to be suffering,' she said. As for the vote she cast back in November, she said: 'I'm still wondering.' 'You don't know just yet what the outcome is going to be, because with Trump he doesn't know when to hush,' Bonano said. 'You don't know if it's going to be good outcome or a bad outcome, anything he does.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
12-07-2025
- Health
- NBC News
A red state reckons with Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
WALKER, La. — Few states stand to lose as much from the megabill that President Donald Trump signed into law as Louisiana. With more poverty and disease than most of the country, Louisiana relies heavily on Medicaid benefits going to people who lack the means to cover a doctor's visit on their own. That fragile lifeline is now in jeopardy. The 'Big Beautiful Bill' that Trump muscled through Congress chops Medicaid spending by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. Out of sheer self-interest, Louisiana might seem a state that would fight to preserve Medicaid. About 35% of Louisianans under the age of 65 were covered by Medicaid in 2023, the most recent year data was available. That figure is the second highest among the 50 states, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organization. Yet the state also voted heavily for Trump in the 2024 election and, polling shows, appreciates the job he's doing as president. Louisiana loves Trump but needs Medicaid. How does a deep-red state reconcile the two? Interviews with a dozen Louisianans, most of whom supported Trump, suggest that many in the state have absorbed the arguments that Trump and his congressional allies used to sell the bill. A few warning signs for Trump emerged. Some of his voters aren't thrilled with what they describe as his bombast or are skeptical the measure will live up to its grandiose title. 'He's a jacka-- — he's the best jacka-- we've got,' said Jason Kahl, 56, wearing a shirt decorated like the American flag during a July 4 celebration in Mandeville, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. 'A lot of times he says things that we're thinking, but don't want to say out loud,' Lydia DeRouen, 66, a customer at Cat's Coffee and Creamery in DeRidder, Louisiana, said on a recent morning. The state's embrace of the new law points to a dynamic prevalent in the Trump era: If he says he wants something, that's good enough for many of his voters. 'I just support President Trump. Most everything he's doing, I'm in on it,' said Sue Armand, a 65-year-old retiree who attended a recent festival at a park in Walker, a city outside the state capital of Baton Rouge. Nationwide, the act will reduce the number of people receiving Medicaid by nearly 12 million over the next 10 years, the largest cutback since President Lyndon Johnson created the program 60 years ago as part of his 'Great Society' agenda. Among the bill's provisions are requirements that those between 19 and 64 years old work a minimum of 20 hours a week unless they are caring for a child or are disabled. The bill also limits states' ability to raise certain taxes to help pay for their share of Medicaid programs, which could cause cuts across the board. Real-world consequences could prove dramatic. 'A lot of people who will be impacted the most negatively are Trump voters,' said Silas Lee, a New Orleans-based pollster. 'We see that in different parts of the nation, where many other communities that supported Trump will experience severe cuts in services that are critical to their survival,' Lee added. Alyssa Custard of New Orleans worries what the wider cuts to Medicaid funding will mean for her family. Her 88-year-old mother suffers from dementia and goes to an adult day care center in New Orleans. Custard's mother, who worked as a preschool teacher most of her life, has little retirement savings and not enough to pay for long-term, private in-home care. Custard and her siblings have been providing care themselves and have been able to keep working because of the adult day care program. But that funding could now be in jeopardy with the cuts to Medicaid. 'My mom worked taking care of other people's kids in the educational system for 50 years,' Custard said. 'She paid into all these things, and now, when it's time for her to reap the benefits of what she paid into for a long time, you have this bill that is taking this away from her and all the other people.' A talking point that proponents used to pass the bill was that Medicaid is rife with abuse and that the changes would expel undeserving recipients from the rolls. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump loyalist who helped steer the bill through Congress, represents a swath of western Louisiana where nearly 25% of adults under 65 rely on Medicaid. Johnson has suggested that beneficiaries include able-bodied people who won't work and are thus ' defrauding the system.' 'There's a moral component to what we're doing. And when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self-worth, and it's good for the community that they live in,' he said in May. That justification rings true to many in his home state, who believe that federal benefits more broadly are going to the wrong people. Jason Wallace, 37, an accountant working a 'Nibbles and Noshes' stand at the Walker festival, said that when it comes to Medicaid, 'Some of the stuff I've heard about [the new law is that it is] trying to keep illegals from taking advantage of our benefits that they don't pay into at all.' A common belief is that taxpaying citizens are getting shortchanged, giving rise to feelings of umbrage that Trump has managed to harness. The new law also makes cuts to a food assistance program known as SNAP. Along with Medicaid, Congress pared back SNAP benefits to create savings that would help offset the cost of extending the tax cuts Trump signed in his first term. 'You go stand in line and the lady in front of me has her nails done, her hair done and she's got food stamps. I work too hard for what I get,' said Charles Gennaro, 78, who was among those on the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline in Mandeville on July 4 as a bluegrass band played on an outdoor stage. 'People come into this country for no reason and get things that they shouldn't get,' he added. Nancy Adams, 50, who also turned out for the celebration in Mandeville, said: 'I'm a single mom. I raised my daughter, struggling every day. And yet these illegals come in and they can get everything. I'm paying for them. But I'm struggling to raise my daughter and I don't qualify for food stamps or anything.' Independent analyses of the Medicaid program show that most recipients are already employed. KFF released a report in May showing that in 2023, nearly two-thirds of those under 65 receiving Medicaid and not other forms of federal aid were working full or part time. Those who lacked jobs cited reasons that included school attendance, care-giving duties, illness, disability or other causes. A separate KFF report that month showed that 95% of Medicaid payments last year were made properly, while the vast majority of improper payments sprang from paperwork errors or administrative actions. Robin Rudowitz, director of KFF's program on Medicaid and the uninsured, cited government estimates that 10 million people could lose health insurance coverage under the new law. 'These are not people who were fraudulently on the program,' she said. Heading toward DeRidder in the western part of the state, a driver sees billboards advertising legal services for those who've endured car wrecks or injury or are in bankruptcy. A city of about 10,000, DeRidder is part of Johnson's congressional district. A Walmart in the city was doing brisk business last Sunday, with people stocking up on groceries and supplies. Some customers of varying ages weren't ambulatory and used motorized carts. Outside the store, Don Heston, 41, who works in the oil and gas industry, described Medicaid as a 'great idea,' but one that 'needs serious rework.' 'Lots of people who are on it shouldn't be. You have people that have paid into it their entire life. They're physically messed up. They can't work any more and they can't get it. But you have people who have never worked a job with any meaning and they're getting it that quick' he said, snapping his fingers, 'because they know the ins and outs of the system.' Weeding out those who are abusing the program might be a worthy goal, but Medicaid advocates worry that cuts won't be made with such precision. Those who truly need the help may get caught up in the purge, according to Keith Liederman, CEO of Clover, the organization that serves Alyssa Custard's mother. 'In the state of Louisiana, it's many of the same staunch supporters of our president who are going to suffer as a result of this bill, and especially in rural areas of our state, of which there are many, many struggling individuals and families, many of whom are supporters of the president,' Liederman said. Clover is bracing for severe cuts that could cause it to shutter its adult day care service entirely, Liederman added. 'It's confounding to me how so many people throughout our country, when they think about people who are economically poor and struggling, think that there's something wrong with them, that they're not trying hard enough, that they're not working hard enough, that they're shirkers trying to abuse the system,' he said. 'That couldn't be further from the truth based on my direct experience in working with thousands of people who are in these positions. I've never seen people who work harder and who are trying harder to get out of poverty than the people that we serve and so many others in our community.' If health centers that rely on Medicaid patients are forced to close, it will affect patients with other forms of health insurance as well, who also rely on those providers in their community. At the David Raines Community Health Centers in northwest Louisiana, which includes several clinics in Johnson's district, officials are preparing to make cuts to their services as they anticipate a significant drop-off in the number of their patients with health insurance as a result of changes in the bill, David Raines CEO Willie White said. 'It really is going to be devastating, to say the least, for the patients that we serve and for other community health centers as a whole, as to how we're going to be able to continue to provide the level of access that we currently provide,' White said. 'I'm just not sure how it's going to work.' Clocking in at nearly 900 pages, the act brims with policy changes that will take time for voters across the country to digest. Trump directed Republican lawmakers to pass it by July 4, and they complied. So far, the bulk of this pro-Trump state seems pleased that they did. But some who voted for Trump are waiting and watching. They know the new law is big; they're just not sure yet whether it's beautiful. Jennifer Bonano, 52, is a retail clerk who came to the festival in Walker. Sitting in her folding chair, she said she voted for Trump but isn't persuaded yet that the new law is all that was advertised. 'You don't want the people that need the Medicaid and that need the food assistance to be suffering,' she said. As for the vote she cast back in November, she said: 'I'm still wondering.' 'You don't know just yet what the outcome is going to be, because with Trump he doesn't know when to hush,' Bonano said. 'You don't know if it's going to be good outcome or a bad outcome, anything he does.'
CNBC
11-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
These are America's most expensive states in 2025, where inflation still hits hardest
One of the biggest problems with inflation is that once it has burrowed into an economy, it is very difficult to rid of it. Just when Federal Reserve policymakers thought they might have finally gotten the better of the inflation that gripped the U.S. economy following the pandemic, along came the specter of tariffs. Inflation varies by location. Corporate executives know this, too. As they seek locations that are more attractive to prospective employees, living costs are a key consideration. That is why we consider Cost of Living as one of ten categories of competitiveness in CNBC's annual rankings of America's Top States for Business. Under this year's methodology, the category is worth 2.4% of a state's overall score. We rate the states based on an index of prices for a broad range of goods and services calculated by the Council for Community and Economic Research, or C2ER. We also consider housing affordability. And, with an insurance crisis spreading across the country, we measure the cost to insure a median-priced home based on the most recent available data. Some states are seeing relatively tame inflation, even now. But others, like the states we are about to tour, are more susceptible to higher prices. Based on the 2025 Cost of Living category points totals — which results in some tie scores between states though only one that can be called the nation's "most expensive" — here are America's most expensive states to live in, along with average prices in 2024 of some basic items in key metro areas. According to the city's website, Surprise, Arizona, located northwest of Phoenix, got its name in 1938 when its founder, Flora Mae Statler, declared that she would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much. Today, the name might also refer to the reaction when people open their utility bills in Arizona. The total energy bill per household in the community of around 143,000 people is nearly three times as much as in Monroe, Louisiana, largely because of all the air conditioning. But people keep coming to the Grand Canyon State, and that is raising housing costs. Nearly one-third of Arizonans — among the highest percentage of any state — are paying more than 30% of their household income for housing. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 22 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D) Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +2.4% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $3,243 Average Home Price (Surprise): $445,836 Dozen Eggs (2024): $2.94 Monthly Energy Bill: $355.73 The Pelican State has historically been an inexpensive place to live, and basic items are still affordable. But much of what you save at the supermarket, you'll likely be turning over to the insurance company in Louisiana. Louisianans pay the second-highest homeowners premiums in the nation after Florida, and they saw the biggest increases this year — up 27%, according to online insurance marketplace Insurify. The state's extreme weather is the major factor. The increases are infuriating residents, and sending lawmakers scrambling for solutions. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed multiple bills into law in May to try to address this, including tort reform and a measure giving the state insurance commissioner more control over premium increases. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 22 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D) Consumer Price Index (May, South Region): +2% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $13,937 Average Home Price (New Orleans): $812,851 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.19 Total Energy Bill: $116.30 As new residents flock to the Lone Star State, they are putting enormous pressure on the housing supply — and on prices. The median sale price statewide is up around 40% over the last five years, according to Redfin, though prices have begun to level off and even decline in some spots. Still, Texas housing costs take a big bite out of household budgets: about 32% of Texas homeowners and renters are paying one-third of their income or more on housing costs, according to the Census Bureau. And that doesn't include the rapidly rising cost of homeowners insurance as the nationwide crisis grows. Texas homeowners pay the fifth-highest premiums in the nation. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 22 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D) Consumer Price Index (May, South Region): +2% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $6,522 Average Home Price (Dallas): $477,656 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.13 Total Energy Bill: $251.78 Getting your greens in the Evergreen State will cost you some extra green. A bag of frozen sweet peas in Kent goes for about 30% more than it does in Salt Lake City. Housing is also expensive in Washington State. A state advisory commission found last year that a lack of affordable housing has reached "critical levels" statewide, leading to increased homelessness, housing instability and higher living costs, especially for low- and moderate-income families. The state Commerce Department's Affordable Housing Advisory Board recommended more funding for affordable housing, reducing regulatory hurdles for new construction, and promoting new types of housing, all aimed at building the one million homes the group said are needed over the next 20 years. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 22 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D) Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +2.4% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $1,995 Average Home Price (Kent): $846,547 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.63 Total Energy Bill: $164.21 One of the key ingredients of authentic Maryland crab cakes — in addition to authentic Maryland crab meat— is eggs. And they are even pricier in Bethesda than in the rest of the country. C2ER took its price surveys in the first half of 2024, so the data doesn't reflect the price spike earlier this year. But the regional differences remain roughly constant. A dozen eggs in Bethesda are nearly 30% more expensive than they are in Portland, Maine. The Old Line State is also not holding the line on housing prices, with increases surpassing the national average. But Maryland has so far dodged the worst of the insurance crisis. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 21 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D) Consumer Price Index (May, South Region): +2% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $2,385 Average Home Price (Bethesda): $995,716 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.79 Total Energy Bill: $233.99 When it comes to the price of basic goods, the Bay State is the most expensive state in the continental United States (Only Hawaii has higher living costs). A major reason is the cost of housing. Roughly 34% of homeowners and renters in Massachusetts are paying more than a third of their household income on housing, according to the Census Bureau. The numbers are distorted somewhat by prices in the Boston area, where the average home price is more than $1 million, and apartment rents are roughly five times what they are paying in Des Moines, Iowa. Nonetheless, The other high costs have sparked growing concerns that young people are being priced out of Boston, and Massachusetts in general. That is a problem not just for the vibrancy of the city, but for companies wanting to attract workers. The only reason Massachusetts does not finish lower on this list is that it still has some of the most affordable homeowners insurance in the country. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 21 out of 60 (Top States Grade: D) Consumer Price Index (May, Boston-Cambridge-Newton): Up 3% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $2,432 Average Home Price (Boston Metro): $1,039,939 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.03 Total Energy Bill: $371.03 While it would be easy to blame New York City for skewing average costs higher in the rest of the Empire State, the fact is that in all but one of New York's ten metropolitan areas (Utica-Rome), home prices are above the national median of $422,800. Of course, there are some places in the state that are way, way above the national average, like Manhattan, where a new home purchase will cost you about seven times the national median. A 2024 report from the office of State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that 2.9 million New Yorkers are "cost burdened" when it comes to housing, meaning they are paying more than 30% of their income on housing. And a sizeable portion of that group is "severely cost burdened," which means they are paying more than half their income on housing. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 18 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D–) Consumer Price Index (May, Northeast Region): +2.4% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $2,855 Average Home Price (Manhattan): $2,775,821 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.98 Total Energy Bill: $250.27 The cost of housing is chewing up household budgets in the Beaver State. One-third of Oregonian homeowners and renters are paying more than 30% of their household income on housing. But life can be expensive in other ways as well in Oregon. A loaf of bread in Portland, Oregon, will cost you 12% more than it would in Portland, Maine. According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a family of four in Oregon, where two adults hold jobs outside the home, is $31.48 per person. In Alabama, each adult would need to earn only $23.38. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 18 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: D–) Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +2.4% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $1,807 Average Home Price (Portland): $723,737 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.57 Total Energy Bill: $167.18 Homeowners insurance premiums have been skyrocketing in the Centennial State — projected to rise another 11% this year, according to online insurance marketplace Insurify. That is, if you can even get insurance. More and more Colorado homeowners are getting non-renewal notices as insurers pull back from wildfire risks in the state. In an effort to ease costs, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in May signed a bill that requires insurance companies to offer discounts to policyholders who take risk mitigation measures, such as establishing defensible space around their property, or hardening their home against wildfires. It is not yet clear if the new law will meaningfully lower premiums as the fires grow more intense — and more expensive. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 12 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: F) Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +2.4% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $6,630 Average Home Price (Denver): $650,555 Dozen Eggs (2024): $2.98 Total Energy Bill: $169.80 The Sunshine State isn't always sunny, of course, especially during hurricane season. Storms are growing more frequent — and severe. That has led to the worst homeowners insurance crisis in the country. In 2022 and 2023, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a series of reforms into law, including measures making it harder to sue insurance companies. It has taken time, but DeSantis now says insurers are coming back to the state, and premiums have slowly begun to level off. Nonetheless, Floridians are still paying the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the nation. Florida also has a serious home affordability problem. More than 36% of Florida homeowners and renters are paying more than one-third of their household incomes on housing. Only Hawaii and California have a higher percentage of cost-burdened homeowners and renters. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 10 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: F) Consumer Price Index (May, South Region): +2% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $15,460 Average Home Price (Miami-Dade County): $711,025 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.77 Total Energy Bill: $220.47 Life is full of trade-offs in the Aloha State. On the one hand, you get to live in paradise. On the other hand, you will pay some mind-boggling costs to live there. Like $2.37 for a head of lettuce in Honolulu, versus $1.87 in Richmond, Indiana. The high prices go beyond the grocery store. A visit to the optometrist will set you back almost $260, compared to just $102 in Valdosta, Georgia. But notably, Hawaii has not yet seen the brunt of the insurance crisis. While premiums are projected to rise around 17% this year, Hawaiians are still paying among the lowest premiums in the nation. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 9 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: F) Consumer Price Index (May, Honolulu Area): +2.7% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $1,808 Average Home Price (Honolulu): $1,681,170 Dozen Eggs (2024): $3.98 Total Energy Bill: $529.02 The Golden State seems aptly named. Living costs in California, all things considered, are the highest in the nation. Nearly 40% of California homeowners and renters are paying more than one-third of their incomes for housing, the largest percentage of cost-burdened households in any state. The average home price in San Jose — the average! — is $1.86 million, according to C2ER. California homeowner's insurance premiums were already rising before the horrific Southern California wildfires in January. After the fires, the state's largest insurer, State Farm, managed to get California's insurance regulator to approve a 17% premium hike, but only after threatening to leave the state. State Farm isn't done trying to raise rates, however. The company noted in a blog post in May that it had originally asked for 30%, and that is what it is holding out for. A hearing on State Farm's request for the remaining 13% is expected this year, the company said. 2025 Cost of Living Score: 6 out of 60 points (Top States Grade: F) Consumer Price Index (May, West Region): +2.4% Annual Homeowner's Insurance: $2,930 Average Home Price (Orange County): $1,489,355 Dozen Eggs (2024): $2.96 Total Energy Bill: $250.56
Politico
25-06-2025
- Health
- Politico
‘People are going to die': Republicans in Mike Johnson's district sound the alarm over Medicaid
SHREVEPORT, Louisiana — MAGA support runs deep here in House Speaker Mike Johnson's home turf. But Louisiana officials from both parties are increasingly worried about the consequences for their constituents of the Johnson-led megabill that's being fiercely debated on Capitol Hill. That still-evolving proposal would overhaul health care and food assistance programs to pay for tax cuts and other aspects of President Donald Trump's agenda. Louisiana is poorer, sicker and hungrier than most states, and the deep cuts to Medicaid have a growing number of Republicans in Louisiana worried that Congress and the White House are going too far. They are anxious that rural hospitals whose finances are highly dependent on federal Medicaid funds would face crippling revenue losses and be forced to shut down, depriving all residents of accessible health care. The blowback over Medicaid represents the most significant crack between GOP leaders in Washington and in the states so far in this administration, according to interviews with nearly two dozen Louisiana state leaders. 'Yes, we need to dial it in, but we can do that and do it responsibly without endangering people's lives or access to quality health care,' said state Rep. Jack McFarland, a Republican who represents a North Louisiana district. 'I live an hour from the closest hospital, and I'm in a rural community. You close my rural hospital? People are going to die because they will not make it.' In a formal appeal to Washington, the state Legislature — controlled by a GOP supermajority — unanimously passed a resolution this month calling for no cuts to Medicaid. More than 1.6 million Louisianans — roughly 35 percent of the state's population — count on it for health care. Under the House budget bill, which would impose first-ever federal work requirements on Medicaid recipients, up to 158,000 Louisianians are predicted to lose coverage. The Senate's version of the bill threatens even more low-income residents. That's why community leaders, health care providers, Democrats — and even some Republicans — warn that this deep red state has the most to lose under Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that Republicans are desperately trying to get across the finish line in the coming days. 'Louisiana is uniquely vulnerable,' said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan think tank. 'Every state would feel the effects of the reconciliation bill, but Louisiana would feel them much more than most.' A spokesperson for Johnson said the House bill 'only pertains to cutting waste, fraud and abuse from Medicaid, not benefits.' The spokesperson also pointed to expiring tax cuts if the bill doesn't pass that would result in $1,250 in higher taxes annually for the average family living in Johnson's district. Louisiana was the first state in the Deep South to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act nearly a decade ago. It's widely considered a success — the expansion reduced the uninsured population by half and helped prevent the closure of rural hospitals that depend on Medicaid payments, like those surrounding Shreveport. 'It's much harder when you take something away that people have gotten accustomed to,' said Alice Reiner, chief executive officer of Crescent Care, a federally qualified health center with four locations in Southeast Louisiana. 'People have been able to get their medications, get those cancer screenings, get their hypertension or their diabetes under control. All of those things that really increase people's quality of life and reduce costs.' Shreveport was once an oil boom town, the first spot in Louisiana where a commercial natural gas field was discovered. But the decades-long drop in oil production and abandonment of U.S.-based manufacturing contributed to its status today as a hollowed-out city, with nearly one in four residents living in poverty. The economic decline of Northwest Louisiana is the story of modern rural America throughout the nation, one defined by rising poverty and reddening politics. Caddo Parish, home to Shreveport, the state's third-largest city, narrowly went to Kamala Harris in 2024. But the surrounding areas are solidly Trump country. Northwest Louisiana is generally poorer than the rest of the state. Nearly 40 percent of the population is enrolled in Medicaid in Johnson's district, almost 290,000 people, which is higher than the state's overall enrollment. About a fifth of the population receives food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is also being targeted for cuts by congressional Republicans. One estimate says a Senate proposal would cost Louisiana more than $326 million to maintain its current nutrition assistance program, which is more than the state sends to the entire University of Louisiana System each year. 'We have had individuals fall through the crack and [were] not able to get out of the crack,' said Clifton Starks, president of the Shreveport and Vicinity Central Trade and Labor Council. The community's biggest problem is a lack of quality jobs, he said, contributing to violent crime that has gone through periods of dramatic increases but has declined in recent years. Absent the federal government, Louisiana has little ability to take care of low-income people on its own. As Washington lawmakers hash out differences in budget bills — with key provisions still up in the air as they barrel toward a self-imposed July 4 deadline — state leaders are bracing for a significant hit to their own budget, more than half of which consists of federal funds, the largest share in the nation. The Senate bill would cost Louisiana $4 billion in Medicaid funds, according to state Senate President Cameron Henry, a Republican, and state lawmakers would need to return to Baton Rouge for a special session to figure out how to close that gap. And it's not just cuts to social service programs. As hurricane season moves in, many living along the Gulf Coast are frightened by FEMA staff cuts and freezing of grants — and worried it may place more of the financial responsibility of recovering from major storms onto the state. With tax hikes likely off the table in the staunchly conservative state, lawmakers expect they would need to make deep cuts to the state's $51 billion budget to account for the pullback of federal funds, which would create 'a domino effect throughout that budget, no matter how you look at it,' said state Sen. Sam Jenkins, a Democrat from Johnson's district. Republicans also say that there will be significant ripple effects. 'That's a real question: How do we navigate a $4 billion hit to health care?' said state Sen. Thomas Pressly, a Republican who also represents part of Johnson's district. 'Certainly we would be looking at real services and real jobs and trying to figure out how to run the state and how to provide health care to the people of Louisiana who have come to expect it.' Local Republicans leaders in Louisiana have been pressuring the federal delegation to reconsider some of the Medicaid cuts before the legislation heads to the Senate floor as soon as this week, hoping that the state's outsized influence in Washington will play to their favor. 'Big picture, I don't know how we move forward with it,' said Democratic state Rep. Matthew Willard, speaking to the cumulative impact of all the cuts. 'It's going to devastate Louisiana.'
