Money and Computing

"IRS faced an unprecedented workload during the 2021 filing season. It began with a backlog of 8 million returns from the prior year. IRS reduced the backlog, but still had millions of new 2021 returns to process by year's end. Taxpayers faced refund delays due to an unprecedented volume of returns requiring manual review—most with similar tax credit errors. During the 2021 filing season, taxpayers also struggled to get help from IRS as: Telephone demand skyrocketed, online refund information was scant, correspondence nearly tripled, in-person service declined. We recommended that IRS address these issues." more »

"Today’s resolution is the department’s fifth agreement on the critical issue of COVID-19 vaccination website accessibility, following a November 2021 settlement with Rite Aid Corporation; a December 2021 settlement with Hy-Vee, Inc.; a January 2022 settlement with The Kroger Co.; and a February 2022 settlement with Meijer, Inc. To find out more about this agreement or the ADA, visit ada.gov or call the Justice Department's toll-free ADA information line at 1-800-514-0301 or 1-800-514-0383 (TDD)."  The Justice Department today announced that it has secured a settlement agreement with CVS Pharmacy, Inc., that will help people with disabilities get information about COVID-19 vaccinations and book their vaccination ap… more »

"Menus are minor, transient documents that tell us how people have dined outside the home over time. Examine one and be transported back to the everyday life of the past - whether to a lavish banquet in the Gilded Age or a food-relief eatery during the Great Depression. They aid our cultural memory by providing historical evidence, not only of what people were eating, but what else they were doing and with whom they were doing it; and what they valued." more »

The racial and ethnic gaps are wider in doctors’ offices than pharmacies, which are more likely to stock both high-dose and standard vaccines, said Dr. Salaheddin Mahmud, director of the Vaccine and Drug Evaluation Centre at the University of Manitoba and first author in the report, which was funded by Sanofi. Mahmud found that Southerners were less likely to get the high-dose vaccine than other Americans, and high-dose vaccine appeared to be less available in communities where more than 20% of the population were minorities. A decision to give all seniors the enhanced shots isn’t as simple as it seems... Since none of the vaccines have great efficacy in older people, the most important thing is to cocoon the vulnerable by “vaccinating the people around them,” said ... a family doctor in Albuquerque. more »