Things To Do In SW Florida

It’s official. Federal student loan repayments will start in September, and it’s your job to get ready. After more than three years of deferrals by both administrations, the debt ceiling deal forced the end of the moratorium.

And if you owe money on federal student loans, it’s going to be your responsibility to make sure you deal with them in the next 10 weeks. Yes, there’s still a possibility of some student loan forgiveness, depending on the Supreme Court ruling. But you should prepare for repayments now.

Step 1. Find your student loans! In the past three years your loan servicer may have changed, or changed names. So go to StudentAid.gov and log in using your FSA ID. (If you’ve forgotten that ID over the past three years, you can get help logging in using your email or phone number.)

Then you’ll find your loan servicer for each loan, along with a link and phone number. Make sure they have your latest contact information. You’ll soon receive notifications about the process for starting payments and the amount you will owe. The best thing you can do is set yourself up for automatic repayments taken directly from your checking account. read more

Ozempic, a medication used to treat Type 2 diabetes, has gone viral as a weight loss drug.

The #ozempic hashtag has over a billion views on TikTok, and more people are searching the web for Ozempic than for insulin, Viagra or Tylenol, according to Google Trends data for May 2023.

Medicare beneficiaries interested in the drug might be surprised to see that it’s often covered by Medicare Part D. It’s one of the prescription drugs on which Medicare, the federal health care program for people age 65 and older and for younger people with certain disabilities, spends the most money each year.

But Medicare doesn’t cover Ozempic for weight loss — only for diabetes. Nor does Medicare cover Wegovy, a weight loss drug that uses the same active ingredient as Ozempic.

In fact, Medicare doesn’t cover any prescription drugs for weight loss. And because of legal barriers and cost concerns, that might not change any time soon.

Here’s what to know about Medicare coverage of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs. read more

Theme park attendance in North America in 2022 was up 32% at the largest attractions, with Magic Kingdom topping the list, according to the annual report released by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.

Magic Kingdom, which continued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World last year, had 17.13 million visitors in 2022, an increase of 35%, the report said.

Although TEA estimated park attendance for ’22, it did not re-rank its overall lists, maintaining the order from 2019 for the third consecutive year due to COVID factors. But from the raw numbers provided, Magic Kingdom would be No. 1 worldwide.

Disneyland of Anaheim, California, would be second on the North American and global lists with 16.89 million visitors, a 97 percent increase.

Universal’s Islands of Adventure would be third on the North America list with 11.02 million visitors, an increase of 21%. IOA would be the only theme park in the top 10 list to surpass its 2019 attendance mark, which the report considers the pre-pandemic attractions peak. Neighboring Universal Studios Florida had 10.75 million visitors in 2022, an increase of 20%. read more

The Orlando-based owner of Olive Garden and other chains has finished its $715 million deal to buy Winter Park-based Ruth’s Hospitality Group.

Darden Restaurants completed the deal Wednesday after first revealing it May 3.

Ruth’s has 81 company-owned or operated Ruth’s Chris Steak House restaurants and 74 franchised locations worldwide, making it Darden’s fourth largest brand by store count. Only Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar’s have more restaurants within the company.

Ruth’s Chris started in 1965 in New Orleans and moved to Central Florida in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina devastated that Louisiana city. Ruth’s stock is no longer traded on the Nasdaq with the deal’s completion.

Ruth’s Chris deal could bring Darden expansion to Asia

Darden already had 1,890 restaurants including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s and The Capital Burger.

The company last acquired Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen in 2017 for $780 million. Cheddar’s had 165 restaurants at the time of the deal. read more