Welcome to Friday’s edition of Washington Secrets. If a friend sent you this and you’d like to sign up, CLICK HERE. Today, we bring you the usual roundup of the White House week, plus we get the lowdown on who was present and who was missing from the U.S.-Venezuela oil deal ceremony.
Page F2From§Eachthe matinee edition — 4 September 2026
Jobs report gets the boost, health plan gets the bill
The White House touts a jobs boost as a sign of economic strength this quarter, but the receipts for 2027 are already being printed: employer and worker health plan costs are projected to jump. The cycle is familiar: the headline lands with new jobs, but somewhere between the offer letter and the benefits orientation, the plan’s price tag doubles back. The ledger says both ends balance: a little more in, a lot more out. The only number that never seems to climb is take-home pay. In the books, that’s called equilibrium. In the break room, it’s called a pay cut.
“They hand out the good news with one pocket and collect it back with the other. Your paycheck goes up, your health plan doubles — that’s the trick. The boss gets the press release, you get the invoice.”
“A strong jobs report means prosperity for all, and any increase in health plan costs is simply a reflection of a robust economy. Rising costs are a sign of confidence, or inflation, or both — I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
The receipts
Employer health benefit costs are projected to see the steepest increase next year since 2003. That could mean higher deductions and out-of-pocket costs for workers.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.