Open enrollment

In this week's "Make Me Smart" newsletter, we explain the latest moves to establish a credible global market for carbon credits. Plus, we do the numbers on open enrollment and the rising cost of health care.

Plans are cheaper because of pandemic-era subsidies, and millions who lost Medicaid coverage have found their way to ACA marketplaces.

The government has extended pandemic-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act marketplace until 2025 — and even higher-income families are eligible.

Some estimates put Medicare fraud, including elder abuse, in the neighborhood of $60 billion a year.

Menopause-specific benefits such as flexible time off, counseling and hormone therapy are becoming more popular among employers.

A shift to self-employment during the pandemic may partly be responsible for the enrollment surge in plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

But ACA coverage is more affordable to many, thanks to extended government subsidies.

Hint: It helps to be healthy and wealthy.

The individual mandate no longer results in a tax penalty, and so-called "skinny plans" that don't meet Obamacare requirements abound.

Open enrollment for 2020 begins Nov. 1.