Minnesota state officials have announced plans to conduct further analysis of the impacts of sulfate pollution on wild rice in Minnesota lakes and rivers. The announcement comes amid concerns that Minnesota’s standard that limits how much of the pollutant mines and other facilities can release into waters where wild rice grows — adopted in 1973 — is out of date.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it will evaluate recent peer-reviewed scientific studies to validate the impacts of sulfates on wild rice while also working with third-party experts to better understand the variation of naturally occurring sulfate levels in different areas across the state.

The MPCA says the two analyses will take about six to nine months to finish and “could inform” the agency’s approach to implementing the state’s standard, which limits sulfate discharges to 10 milligrams per liter.

“At the end of this, we will have a better idea if there are different tools or approaches that we need to undertake with regards to implementing the sulfate wild rice standard,” explained MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler.

The announcement comes about three months after MPCA officials hosted a contentious public meeting on the Iron Range over proposed industrial wastewater permits for U.S. Steel’s Keewatin Taconite mine, known as Keetac, that for the first time imposed limits on sulfate discharges to comply with the state standard.

Environmental groups and Indigenous people have been demanding for years that the state enforce the standard, citing evidence showing that sulfate converts to sulfide in the sediment of lakes and rivers, and is toxic to wild rice. Called manoomin in the Ojibwe language, it is culturally significant to the state’s Ojibwe Nations, and wild rice is Minnesota’s official state grain.

But mine workers, labor union representatives and state legislators from northeast Minnesota have argued that the state’s sulfate pollution standard is flawed and out of date. They say installing pollution control equipment is cost-prohibitive, so enforcing the standard could force mines to close, potentially devastating the region’s economy.

U.S. Steel has asked the MPCA for a variance that would allow the mine to exceed the sulfate standard. The company argues it would cost more than $800 million to install the water treatment technology needed to meet the sulfate limit, with annual operating costs exceeding $100 million.

Mining officials argued at the public meeting in September that those investments would increase Keetac’s cost of production by $17.50 per ton, an amount that would make the mine significantly less competitive in a global marketplace.

“When people — hundreds of commenters — call for a reevaluation of the science,” said Kessler, “I think it is responsive for us to say, ‘OK, if they’re not confident in the state government’s implementation of the science or the state government’s understanding of the science,’ then it is important for the state to hire third-party researchers to scrutinize what the latest science says about the impacts of sulfate on wild rice.”

The state has conducted a similar analysis before. In 2011, following a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce to eliminate the standard, the state legislature asked the MPCA to study the rule and see if it needed updating.

Six years later, the agency proposed a complex, flexible formula that would determine different sulfate limits for each specific lake or stream. But a state administrative law judge rejected the proposal.

Paula Maccabee, executive director of the environmental group WaterLegacy, said the research conducted then showed the importance of keeping the standard in place to protect wild rice.

Assuming that the same level of scientific integrity and rigor is used this time, Maccabee said, “I think they’re going to get the same answers, that science supports the need for a sulfate standard to prevent slow decimation of wild rice by sulfide in the sediments.”

Maccabee also hopes that researchers consider that some Minnesota waterways may even require a sulfate limit stricter than the state standard. Sulfate not only impacts wild rice, but also converts mercury to a toxic form that accumulates in fish, endangering the health of people who eat the fish.

“I’m hoping that the science is not for the purpose of delay but for the purposes of making sure that our aquatic life and our state grain are properly protected,” Maccabee said.

While the studies are conducted, the MPCA says the state’s current sulfate standard will remain on the books, and the agency will evaluate permitting decisions on a case-by-case basis.

Part of the reason why the state has struggled with how to enforce the sulfate standard, Kessler said, is because wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove sulfate from the water.

And the cost of adding the technology to treat for sulfate is expensive. Groups have warned that enforcing the standard could have much broader impacts beyond the mining industry, because municipal wastewater treatment plants, paper mills, agricultural processing plants and other facilities also discharge sulfate.

“And when you’re asking entities to spend lots of money, it’s very important that we’re doing it in a way that is grounded in science,” said Kessler, “as well as (providing) opportunities for treatment and funding into the future.”

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By Charlotte Huff, KFF Health News

David Garza sometimes feels as if he doesn’t have health insurance now that he pays so much to treat his Type 2 diabetes.

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His monthly premium payment of $435 for family coverage is roughly the same as the insurance at his previous job. But the policy at his current job carries an annual deductible of $4,000, which he must pay out-of-pocket for his family’s care until he reaches that amount each year.

“Now everything is full price,” said the 53-year-old, who works at a warehouse just south of Dallas-Fort Worth. “That’s been a little bit of a struggle.”

To reduce his costs, Garza switched to a lower-cost diabetes medication, and he no longer wears a continuous glucose monitor to check his blood sugar. Since he started his job nearly two years ago, he said, his blood sugar levels have inched upward from an A1c of 7% or less, the target goal, to as high as 14% at his most recent doctor visit in November.

“My A1c is through the roof because I’m not on, technically, the right medication like before,” Garza said. “I’m having to take something that I can afford.”

Plans with high deductibles — the amount that patients must pay for most medical care before insurance starts pitching in — have become increasingly common. In 2024, half of private-industry employees participating in medical care plans were offered this type of insurance, up from 38% in 2015, according to federal data. Such plans are also offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

With ACA marketplace premiums for next year increasing and many of the subsidies to help people pay for them poised to expire at year’s end, more people face tough choices as they weigh monthly premium costs against deductibles. To afford insurance at all, people may opt for a plan with low premium payments but with a high deductible, gambling that they won’t have any medical crises.

But high-deductible plans pose a particular challenge for those with chronic conditions, such as the 38 million Americans who live with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Adults with diabetes who are involuntarily switched to a high-deductible plan, compared with adults on other types of insurance, face an 11% higher risk of being hospitalized with a heart attack, a 15% higher risk of hospitalization for a stroke, and more than double the likelihood that they’ll go blind or develop end-stage kidney disease, according to a study published in 2024.

“All of these complications are preventable,” said Rozalina McCoy, the study’s lead author.

Care vs. Cost

The initial rationale behind such high-deductible plans was to encourage people to become wiser health care shoppers, said McCoy, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. And they can be a good fit, proponents say, for people who don’t use a lot of medical care or who have cash on hand for a health crisis.

But while people with an excruciating earache will seek care, McCoy said, those with unhealthy blood sugar levels might not feel as urgent a need to seek treatment — despite the potential long-term damage — given the acute financial pain.

“You have no symptoms until it’s too late,” she said. “At that point, the damage is irreversible.”

Overall, medical care for people with diabetes costs insurers and patients an average of$12,022 annually to treat the disease, according to an analysis. Type 2 diabetes, the more common form, is diagnosed when the body can no longer process or produce enough insulin to adequately regulate blood sugars. With Type 1, the body can’t produce insulin. Those with the disease may end up on the financial hook not just for insulin and other types of medication but for related equipment.

Mallory Rogers, whose 6-year-old daughter, Adeline, has Type 1, calculates that it costs roughly $1,200 a month for insulin, a pump, and a continuous glucose monitor. That figure doesn’t include the cost of emergency supplies needed in case Adeline’s technology malfunctions. Those include another type of insulin, blood-testing strips, and a nasal spray that’s nearly $600 for a two-pack of vials — supplies that must be replaced once a year or more frequently.

Adeline Rogers Waibel, who has Type 1 diabetes, relies on insulin, a pump, and a continuous glucose monitor that together cost about $1,200 a month, not including emergency supplies in case her technology malfunctions. (Courtesy Mallory Rogers/KFF Health News/TNS)

“If she doesn’t have insulin, it would become an emergency situation within two hours,” said Rogers, a technology consultant who lives in Sanford, Florida. Rogers has been saving for the coming year when her daughter moves to the high-deductible health plan offered by Rogers’ employer, which has a $3,300 deductible for family coverage.

Taxing Decisions

Many insurance plans carry increasingly high deductibles. But to be defined as a high-deductible health plan — and thus be eligible to offer a health savings account — a plan’s deductible for 2026 must be at least $1,700 for an individual and $3,400 for a family, according to IRS rules.

Health savings accounts enable people to squirrel away money that can be rolled over from year to year to be used for eligible medical expenses, including prior to meeting a deductible. Such accounts, available through a plan or employer, can provide tax benefits. The contributions are limited to $4,400 individually and $8,750 for a family in 2026, and employers may contribute toward that total. Rogers’ employer pays $2,000 spread out over the year, and Garza’s contributes $1,200.

Rogers recognizes that she’s fortunate to have accumulated $7,000 so far in her health savings account to prepare for her daughter’s insurance shifting to Rogers’ plan.

“Adding a financial burden to an already very stressful medical condition, it hurts my heart,” she said, reflecting on those who can’t similarly stockpile. “Nobody asks to have diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2.”

The median deductible for employer health insurance plans was $2,750 in 2024, but deductibles can run $5,000 or higher, said George Huntley, CEO of both the Diabetes Leadership Council and Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition.

When deductibles are too high, Huntley said, routine maintenance is what patients skimp on: “You don’t take the drug that you’re supposed to take to maintain your blood glucose. You ration your insulin, if that’s your scenario. You take pills every other day.”

Garza knows he should do more to control his blood sugar, but financial realities complicate the equation. His previous health plan covered a newer class of diabetes medication, called a GLP-1 agonist, for $25 a month. He wasn’t charged for his remaining medications, which included blood pressure and cholesterol drugs, or his continuous glucose monitor.

With his new insurance, he pays $125 monthly for insulin and several other medications. He doesn’t see his endocrinologist for checkups more than twice a year.

“He wants to see me every three months,” Garza said. “But I told him it’s not possible at $150 a pop.”

Plus, he typically needs lab testing before each visit, an additional $111.

In 2026, the deductible for a “silver”-level plan on the marketplace will average $5,304 without cost-sharing reductions, according to an analysis from KFF, a health think tank that includes KFF Health News. For a“bronze”-level plan, it will be $7,476. An annual visit and some preventive screenings, such as a mammogram, would be covered free of cost to the patient.

Moreover, people comparing plan options, whether through their employer or the marketplace, should figure out their annual out-of-pocket maximum, which still applies after the deductible is met, Huntley said.

Garza’s family policy requires him to pay 20% until he reaches $10,000, for example.

Given Garza’s high blood sugar levels, his doctor prescribed a fast-acting form of insulin to take as needed with meals, which costs an additional $79 monthly. He planned to fill it in December, when he’s responsible for only 20% of the cost after he has hit his deductible but not yet reached his out-of-pocket maximum.

Garza likes his job despite its health plan, saying he’s never missed a day of work, even recently when he had a stomach bug. As of late 2025, he remained conflicted about whether to sign up for health insurance when his company’s enrollment period rolls around in mid-2026.

He worries that dropping insurance would place his family too much at risk if a major medical crisis struck. Still, he pointed out, he could then use the money he now spends on monthly premiums to directly pay for care to better manage his diabetes.

“I’m just stuck, to be honest with you,” he said.

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb

As we turn the calendar to a new year, many people revisit familiar resolutions like getting healthier, getting organized, or simply getting a fresh start. But one resolution deserves a place at the top of the list in 2026: reducing or even eliminating “bad debt.” And that begins by understanding that not all borrowing is created equal.

We’ve all heard that famous advice from Hamlet, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” In the real world, however, few Americans can pay cash for a home, a car or an education. Some forms of debt are not only unavoidable, but they can actually support long-term financial stability. The key is knowing the difference between efficient debt that improves your financial life and inefficient debt that quietly drains it.

And with the state of borrowing today, the stakes are higher than they’ve been in decades. Back in 2015, total U.S. household debt was about $11.9 trillion. Ten years later, it has climbed to $18.6 trillion, roughly a 50% increase. The average American household now carries around $105,000 in total debt. Credit card APRs hover above 22%, mortgages sit near 6%, and auto loans generally have become more expensive. And the average federal student loan borrower today carries just over $39,000 in outstanding debt.

In short: the cost of borrowing has significantly changed. Our financial habits need to change too.

Good debt vs. bad debt—reframed for today

Good debt helps build long-term value (think reasonable mortgages, education that enhances earning power, or amortizing loans tied to an asset). In some cases, such as mortgage or a home-equity line interest, it may also come with tax advantages.

Bad debt, on the other hand, typically takes the form of high-interest credit card balances; Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) purchases without a clear payoff plan; and lifestyle spending that doesn’t create future value. Those dollars don’t just disappear; they take tomorrow’s income with them.

Know what you owe before you act

If controlling debt is your New Year’s goal, visibility is your first step. Create a simple inventory that lists each balance, interest rate, minimum payment, remaining term, and the purpose of the debt. Seeing the numbers in one place moves you from vague unease to meaningful control. It also highlights which debts are hurting you most (such as the 24% credit card that should take priority over a low-rate mortgage).

Tackle high-interest and low-balance debt first

Once you have the full picture, address the high-interest balances first. These are the ones quietly compounding against you every month. Some people prefer the Debt Avalanche method (pay down debt with highest annual percentage rate, or APR, first); others respond better to the Debt Snowball method (dispatch the smallest balances first for quick wins and a psychological boost). Neither is necessarily better than the other. The best method is the one you’ll stick with.

Debt-management options such as zero-balance transfers or consolidation loans can help, but only if you manage them with discipline. They’re tools, not magic-wand solutions.

Use good debt sensibly

If you were fortunate to lock in a 3% percent mortgage before rates rose, accelerating payments may not be the most effective use of your cash today. But if you’re buying a home or car in today’s rate environment, stricter budgeting and right-sizing your purchase becomes essential.

Turn a January resolution into a 12-month plan

Big financial change can happen through small, consistent decisions. Try focusing on one primary and attainable goal, such as reducing credit card balances by 30% this year. Break that into monthly targets and automate payments above the minimum. Redirect raises, bonuses or tax refunds toward your highest-interest balances. These small actions compound in your favor.

Protect your progress

Once you begin paying down debt, it’s important to avoid sliding backward. Create a short “no-go” list: vacations on credit cards, unnecessary store cards and casual use of BNPL for non-essentials. Begin to build an emergency fund and pull your credit report annually.

If you’re relying on credit cards for groceries or minimum payments are crowding out your budget, consider reaching out to a nonprofit credit counselor or a certified financial planner. Avoid for-profit “debt relief” offers that promise quick fixes, as they often create bigger problems down the road.

A better year begins with one step

Debt isn’t inherently good or bad. It’s simply a tool with pluses and minuses. But in today’s high-rate world, using that tool wisely matters more than ever. We suggest starting small: pull a credit report, list your debts and APRs, or automate a single payment. A year from now, you’ll be glad you did.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb are financial advisers at Wealth Enhancement Group and co-hosts of “Your Money” on WCCO 830 AM on Sunday mornings. Email Bruce and Peg at yourmoney@wealthenhancement.com. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, a registered investment adviser and affiliate of Wealth Enhancement Group.

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The number of disruptive passengers on airplanes continues at a pace well above pre-pandemic levels. While the midair dustups are trending down after the Federal Aviation Administration adopted a zero-tolerance policy and increased fines almost five years ago, the incidents will end up close to double the three-year average before the pandemic.

Why are so many people still going bonkers during flights? There’s no lack of culprits.

One obvious one is access to alcohol as kiosk bars spring up across from boarding gates. Airline seats are shrinking while most Americans are getting larger. Another is social media: The unruly get 15 minutes of infamy and the recorders of such displays get the clicks.

While these potential sources of bad behavior are disparate and complex, the FAA’s solution was spot-on: Its zero-tolerance policy forgoes warnings and is backed up by fines up to as much as $43,658 for each violation. That should be effective, but the message hasn’t sunk in fast enough. While efforts have been made to spread the word, such as an airport ad campaign, they haven’t been enough to break the cycle and push the outbursts down to pre-pandemic levels.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took a stab at cajoling passenger to behave themselves by harking back to the “golden age” of air travel when passengers wore suits and dresses and were better behaved. This was also an era when only the well-heeled could afford to fly. The industry now reaches the masses, as it should, and that comes with more dustup potential.

As much as Duffy — and many fellow passengers — would prefer travelers not show up at the airport in flip-flops and midriff tops, that’s unlikely to change. Flyers aren’t going to give up their comfortable sweatpants for a suit. Can you imagine the fights that would break out if an airport or airline attempts to enforce a dress code?

The FAA and airports need to be more aggressive about warning passengers. A good place for a sign that highlights the fine would be right above the kiosk bar among the gates. How about on the jet bridge, which would give passengers something to read while standing in line to board? Perhaps after flyers check the box agreeing not to bring on hazardous items — such as lithium batteries and ammunition — they would have to acknowledge reading a warning about proper behavior and the fact that passengers must follow orders from the flight crew.

The spike of violence on aircraft was ignited by Covid-19 restrictions and hassles — mostly fueled by masking requirements. Flight attendants turned into drill sergeants, barking at passengers who flouted mask rules or dawdled too long eating that snack with the mask off. Undoubtedly, there are lingering effects on both flight attendants and passengers from that intense period. Then there’s just the societal polarization that has intensified in the past decade and has more people on edge and coiled to lash out. Add a few drinks from the kiosk bar, and the smallest spark can unleash the rage.

Certainly, the number of incidents has dropped from a peak in 2021, when there were 720 altercations in March alone, according to FAA data. There were 104 unruly passengers last month, the lowest monthly tally since 2020. In the first 11 months of this year, 1,480 altercations were reported, down 23% from the period a year earlier. Still, that level is much higher than the 889 incidents in all of 2018 and 544 in 2017.

Continuing the crackdown on unruly behavior and publicizing it widely is the only way to get passengers to shape up. The financial incentive for airports and airlines to serve alcohol precludes temperance as a solution. Airlines aren’t going to give up precious cabin real estate with larger seats and more legroom at the back of the plane. There’s no controlling social media nor how the incidents go viral and inspire more bad actors. It’s futile to wait for the country to heal its polarizing politics.

Airlines don’t discuss the problem publicly much. The violence isn’t good for brand image and it’s not good business to disparage customers. Although an incident can be costly, especially if a flight is diverted to an unscheduled airport, they aren’t that common. Last year, U.S. airlines operated almost 10 million domestic and international flights. Since the end of 2024, reported incidents occurred at an average of 1.5 times per 10,000 flights, according to the FAA.

Flight attendants are trained to de-escalate potentially explosive situations. Who knows how many fights didn’t break out in a melee because the flight crew spotted off-kilter passengers and knew how to listen and empathize to defuse a disruption?

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A messaging bombardment should make it clear to passengers that they must follow instructions from flight crew and can file a complaint later. The job of flight attendants is safety first and later to serve beverages or bring a blanket. The viral videos of fisticuffs make headlines, but the resulting fines are too anticlimactic to garner much news coverage — even a record fine of $81,950 for a passenger who shoved and punched flight attendants and tried to open the plane door while in flight.

While the number of unruly passengers is trending down, it hasn’t been quick enough. Let the warning spread far and wide: Disruptive behavior in a metal tube crammed with hundreds of people is simply unacceptable — and there will be consequences.

Thomas Black is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist writing about the industrial and transportation sectors. He was previously a Bloomberg News reporter covering logistics, manufacturing and private aviation.