Transcripts For CNBC On The Money 20161119

This is on the money, your money, your life, your future. We begin with a trade. Should you give up personal medical information to get a big discount on Health Insurance . More employers are offering workers Cash Incentives for completing a Health Risk Assessment questionnaire. Is it free money, or are you selling your privacy . This weeks cover story is healthy concerns. Health insurance premiums have climbed 213 for families since 1999. At the same time wages have risen only 60 . To save on growing health care costs, some companies are asking employees voluntarily to disclose sensitive medical information. Heres how it works. Employers offer discounts on Health Insurance plans or add money to an employees flexible spending account if they complete a Health Risk Assessment questionnaire or undergo a biometric screening which can measure weight, Blood Pressure or cholesterol levels among other things. More than 50 of companies now offer such programs. The programs are voluntary, but not participating can be costly. Under new equal Employment Opportunity rules set to go into effect next year, employers can set a financial incentive as high as 30 of the annual cost of a workers Health Insurance. With the coverage cost of Health Insurance coverage nearly 6,500 for an employee, the cost of not participating can be nearly 2,000. James gelfand is Senior Vice President of Health Policy at the erisa industry committee, a trade Group Representing employers and Company Benefits plans and Dania Palanka is assistant professor at Georgetown University Health Policy institute. Thanks for being here. Thanks. Why do more comes offer Health Wellness programs with the financial incentives to go alongside . Well, you have to have the financial incentive or people wont participate in the Wellness Program, but why offer the Wellness Program in the first place . Well, thats because if you can find a way to empower your employees and their families to better their own health and to make Good Health Care decisions and Everybody Wins because you save money on health care costs. Dania, whats the viewpoint from the employees . Are they giving anything up by participating . The employees are giving up some aspect of their privacy and their personal Health Information. If you think of a situation where your spouse might have cancer and youre being asked to either provide that information in a Health Questionnaire to your employer and youre nervous that your employer might what they might do having that information and the difference is 500, 2,000, employees are starting to make a decision about whether their privacy is worth the amount of money is at stake. What do companies, james, do with this information . Well, to be clear, this information is not going to your boss. Its not going to your Hr Department or your company. It goes to a third party, a vendor, and what that vendor does is takes your information along with all the other employees who participate and deidentifies it so your privacy is protected. It aggregates that information and gives a report back to your company. In fact, if that information is not properly protected, thats a violation of the hipaa standards, and a violation of hipaa can result in penalties as high as 1. 5 million and up to ten years in prison, so the allegation that somehow youve given your Health Information or your spouses Health Information to your boss and they are going to use that against you, its just to scare people. Its not real. Dania, the aarp is suing the eeoc, the federal agency that protects workers from discrimination, so clearly theres a concern on behalf of aarp which represents so many people across this nation about the ways that personal medical information can hurt privacy. First of all, unfortunately, hipaa doesnt apply to all employee Wellness Programs because there are some Employee Wellness flames are separate from your Employee Health benefit program, and if thats the case and the third party collecting this information is not actually in any way associated with the Health Insurance benefit, you dont have all the hipaa privacy protections. If a worker is asked to complete these wellness assessment and biometric screenings, whats your best advice . They need to make a decision, a personal decision based on both what the incentive, which can also be a penalty, whether that amount of money versus their comfort in sharing the information, its very personal decision, but it should be based on the full knowledge and reading of all the terms and conditions. Dania and james, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Now heres a look at whats making news as we head into a new week on the money. Americas economy is chugging along at a better pace than was expected. Retail sales rose by 0. 8 of a percent in october and september was revised up. The best twomonth streak since 2014. Retail sales are always closely watched because consumption makes up more than twothirds of the u. S. Economy. Stocks closed near alltime highs thursday with banks and other Financial Companies leading the dow. The techheavy nasdaq set a new record in early trading on friday morning. Stocks closed lower on friday. Federal reserve chair testified before the joint Economic Congressional Committee and strongly signalled a hike in Interest Rates is coming soon. Yellen said the case for an increase has strengthened and a delay could hurt financial stability. The fed meets next month. Mcdonalds may be ready to go digital in a big way. A new app reportedly ready to be unveiled next year will allow you to order your big mac and fries and pay for it before you get to the shop. The company has lagged behind other chains such as starbucks and dominos when it comes to mobile apps. Up next, were on the money. Food fraud. Is your cheese filled with fillers or diluted with substitutes . Do you get what you pay for . And later, the gender gap in your retirement. Why women face more stumbling blocks when it comes to saving enough. And now a look at how the stock market ended the week. When you head to the supermarket, do you get what you pay for . Or has someone switched out expensive cheese, fish or meat and replaced it with cheap substitutes or fillers . It may happen more often than you think, and its called food fraud. Andrea day has the story of the price we may all pay. Extra Virgin Olive Oil has sort of a long rich history of fraud. Reporter from olive oil thats not extra virgin to honey. You cant tell its been cut with high fructose corn syrup. Reporter our supermarkets are loaded with fake foods like coffee cut with corn and even sawdust and seafood. Nationwide about onethird of our seafood is mislabeled at retail. You cant tell red snapper which is really expensive from tilapia which is really cheap. Reporter and consumers wind up paying the price. According to the Michigan State University Food fraud initiative, food fraud costs 30 billion to 40 billion every year worldwide. Food fraud has and does cause illnesses and has actually caused deaths in consumers. Karen everstein is a scientist at usp, the group sets standards for foods. On her watch list, processed foods. Source ingredients from all over the world and putting them together into a finished food product. This increases the opportunities for fraud. Reporter like frozen pizza that can add dozens of ingredients. Usp created a database for Companies Looking to prevent fraud. Reporter you can quickly identify which ingredients are prone to fraud and what have been used and which of those might be hazardous. Reporter according to the fda combating food fraud is the responsibility of both industry and regulatory authorities. The fda inspects manufacturers to make sure they are meeting requirements for good manufacturing practices and also conducts label reviews during these inspections. And the usda tells us it, quote, works every day at establishments ensuring that meat, poultry and processed egg products entering commerce are safe, wholesome and correctly labeled. And both experts say the bottom line is to try to stick with brands that you trust. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is, and buy foods in the most whole form like coffee beans and cheese. That way you know exactly what youre getting. For on the money, im andrea day. So which foods most often have fake ingredients. John spink is director of Michigan States food fraud initiative. Nice to see you today. John, tell me which foods are most likely to be tampered with. The first thing to say is the vast majority of all food fraud does not have a Public Health threat, but what we see is products that have been blended, combined, processed in a way, that creates a fraud opportunity. Are there specific foods . I mean, we mentioned, we saw olive oil there, but milk . Milk is on the list . Well, a real key with food fraud is looking at where its occurring around the world, you know, in different geographic regions and different retail. Thats real important. Weve seen reports in india where milk has been adulterated or diluted up to 60 of the milk, but in the u. S. We have really tight supply chains where theres a lot of monitoring, so for us the milk is really, you know, an exponentially safer here than there. And you mentioned that most food is not dangerous, even if its been tampered with, but are there instances where there could be danger from food fraud . Absolutely. The thing with food fraud is we dont know whats in there and we dont know what the processes the bad guys use, the criminals and fraudsters use to manufacture the product, so theres always a vulnerability, even if theres not an actual threat, meaning that that product is something that could be bad, and wed have a real tough time tracing and recalling product when we dont know that ingredient is actually in there. How do you look out for food fraud in what you order at a restaurant or what youre buying at the Grocery Store . Really, you know, we get this question a lot, and im at Michigan State university, and when we talk to our fisheries and wildlife professors, you know, people that study fish, you know, when you are looking at a fillet, a white flaky fillet, one thing if its raw and one thing if its cooked and another thing if youre looking at the whole fish itself, and a lot of people could look at a whole fish and not know the difference between a sea bass and tilapia so its really tricky for people. The key is to work with suppliers and buy from suppliers and go to restaurants that you trust and that youve had a Good Relationship with. John, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you very much. Up next, were on the money. Taking stock of your retirement portfolio and why your gender makes a big difference in planning ahead. And later, bottoms up. This startup says it is can make any brew better. Well give this tech a taste test. Whether you plan to move some place warm, travel or just sit back and take it easy, retirement requires careful planning. Folks should take into consideration several factors, even your gender. Joining us now to tell us why and how men and women should plan differently is certified Financial Planner avani ramnani. Why . Why do men and women need to think differently about retiring . Men and women thinking differently about investing. For men its more like a sport. Its a competition. What are the hot stock tips and how much time do you have in your portfolio . Women, on the other hand, are a little bit risk averse. They worry about the risk. Think worry about losing it all. So men and women really need to learn from each other about how to think about retirement, investing, saving money. And generally women may have to take more risks because they are living longer than men do, so in what ways should women take a different approach when they are planning for their retirement . You know, women need to think about growing their money, about investing and growing their money, not just conserving it because, as you said, women tend to live longer and also women have this tendency of not investing. So both men and women have they run into challenges when it comes to saving enough. How do both genders look at saving more money for retirement . So saving is really it can be done pretty easily and it can be set on autopilot, so use your Employers Retirement plans. Put that money in. It goes straight from your paycheck, doesnt hit your Checking Account so you dont even spend it. Is there an optimum percentage of your overall income that you should be saving for retirement . Ideally between 10 and 15 of your gross income which is the money youre supposed to see in your paycheck but dont because of taxes and all that. So you should be saving 10 to 15 and put it on autopilot so thats the best way to do it. And if you dont know a lot about taking those risks by investing, how do you educate yourself . You know, theres a lot of fear around investments and educating and even just talking about investments is helpful. Dont leave it to the man in your life to take care of it. Understand whats in there. Take advantage of the all these resources, and experts. There are so many experts. Financial advisers are not just for the wealthy. Find one that is a fiduciary that works in your best interest and puts your interest ahead of theirs and gives you good advice. Avani, thanks so much for joining us with the advice. Youre welcome. Up next on the money, a look at the news for the week ahead, and no sour grapes here. The urban winery with a sweet taste of success. And getting ahead. The startup thats using sound waves to transform the foam in beer. But come on, does it real improve the taste . Put it to the test. For more on our show and guests go to our website otm. Cnbc. Com, and you can follow us on twitter onthemoney. Here are some stories that may affect your money this week. Monday night football will make its debut in mexico city as the raiders and texans cross the border. Tuesday, well get a read on existing home sales for october. On wednesday, the federal reserves open Market Committee will release minutes from its last meeting. Thursday is, of course, thanksgiving followed by black friday. Still one of the years biggest shopping days. While others will be observing the opposite buy nothing day. It began 24 years ago to protest overconsumption. The borough of brooklyn, new york, is home to 2. 5 million people, great pizza and more hipsters than you can count. Its also home to something else, great wine. Our kate rogers explains. Reporter when you think wineries, Rolling Vineyards in napa valley or the finger lakes may come to mind but john stires and Brian Levanthal want you to think brooklyn. The two friends met in 2007 where they ventured out to new jersey to make barrels of wine as a teambuilding exercise. We made a different vintage and went through the entire process from the fermentation all the way to bottling. One of the pain points we had was getting out to new jersey. None of us had cars and we were taking a train or subway or bus and walking a mile to get to this place. And that got them wondering why wasnt anyone doing this in new york city and they got to planning and quit their jobs in february 2010. We did not have any winemaker and didnt have any money or a space. And you start thinking whats the worst that can happen if we try and fail, and the way we looked at it was that is not nearly as bad as not trying at all. Reporter the duo gave themselves three months to find space, capital, and, of course, that winemaker. They raised about 1 million from friends and family to renovate this 8,000 square foot former creamery and pickle factory, officially opening in october 2010. Today events make up about 75 of brooklyn winerys business. Last year they raked in 5. 2 million in revenue. During brooklyn winerys fall harvest its all hands on deck. Just want to put those hands and do that and pull it up and just try to incorporate the grape skins with all of the juice. Reporter how am i doing . Youre doing great. Well, if wine isnt your thing and why wouldnt it be, how about beer . New jerseybased startup fizzics is tapping a new technology that promises to make your beer better. Here to tell us about it and how it works, ceo and cofounder phillip petracca. Pleasure, thank you. How did you come up with this idea to improve beer . My cofounder and i were having a great draft beer at a favorite Craft Brewery and i said why does it take so good drinking it from a tap and when were drinking it at home out of a can and bottle it doesnt taste the same . Ten months later we had our first prototype. We socialized it at the beer festivals and the response was overwhelming and weve been running ever since. How does work . Let me show you how it works. This is called way tap. You simply take a can or bottle and place it into the system, slide it over. When you pull the handle forward, we dispense the beer under pressure at a controlled rate to maintain as much carbonation in the body of the beer so youll see you didnt create a lot of foam and push the handle in the backwards position, utilize sound waves to provide the ideal density of foam to give you the most amount of aroma and a rich smooth and thats a hand pour. Thats great. And this is a fizzics pour. Wow. It is such a huge dramatic difference. Astonishing how it mellows out the flavor of the beer. You can do this with all kinds of beer . Sure. We actually have a really great Russian Imperial Stout that was aged in bourbon barrels in here, and with this particularly beer youre really, really, the foam will bring out complexity and give you a great mouth feel, and, again, thats a hand pour of the same beer. This is a 10 abv which is very difficult to create a foam. Thats a great beer. I should know, im a brewer. Wow. The difference is shocking. This is not like an aerator or decantor where you really need advanced palette. The difference between a hand pour and fizzics is dramatic. Even for people not beer fans in the first place. Where do people get it and how much do they get it . Currently available at best buy, target, brookstone and amazon. Current generation device 169 and our new way tap that will be launching this week is 129. So cheers, good luck with it. Thank you so much. And that is the show for today. Im Contessa Brewer in for becky quick. Thank you so much for joining us. Next week what to buy when. The best times to find Holiday Shopping deals whatever it is youre looking for. Each week keep it right here on the money. Have a great one. Well see you next week. Still live in times square. As the options actions crew gets ready behind us, why dont we see whats coming up on the program . 3, 2, 1, liftoff thats pretty much what stocks have done since the election. But if you missed the run to new highs, weve got a way for you to play catchup with one mega cap tech stock. Plus, call it king kong versus godzilla. Thats because the strong u. S. Dollar could be a headwind for a handful of widely owned stocks. And weve got the name poised to get hit the hardest. And take me home tonight