Endemic Report
The Sick Times:
While aggregate US stats for the summer wave continue to decline, infections are rising in northern and central states. Once again, I'm finding just a fraction, maybe a third, of the citations I normally filter for in COVID-19 news stories. Once again, no overriding news trends, except maybe the end of suspensions of Swiss athletes for using fake vaccine cards and Hegseth restoring a USAF general who had rejected the vaccine mandate.
Other COVID-19 news items:
- "RNA-protein interactions could lead to new coronavirus drug targets"
- "Early Paxlovid treatment was associated with modestly lower risks of Long COVID, post-acute hospitalization, and death among high-risk, nonhospitalized patients with COVID-19"
- COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
- "Feds in Oregon confirm nearly $16M recovered in ongoing COVID-19 relief fraud crackdown"
- "Naples partners get 15 months for COVID-19 glove fraud"
- "US man gets 30-year sentence for Minnesota fraud that drew Trump backlash"
- Legal/political issues:
- "Mom of 10 wins $11.3M verdict after insurer denied husband’s COVID death claim"
- "Cheshire Company To Pay Nearly $775K In Settlement Over COVID-19 Relief Fraud Claims"
Other Notes
The blog averaged an unlikely 12K daily page reads over the past week. We hit 400 posts for the year, as we have every year since 2016, and we hit the 40-post month target again, though we likely won't reach the 500 mark this year. On X/Twitter, we've lost some momentum, down from 250 followers, and X said I've gotten 1.8K impressions over the past week.
I've finally returned to the status quo with the IRS quo after filing my 2025 return. This was not a case where I owed money to the IRS. I overestimated my income for last year's estimated tax payments. Because I also couldn't estimate this year's income, I elected to apply my refund to this year's taxes. I waived listing banking info on the return, since it didn't apply because I wasn't expecting a deposit. So I got a form letter from the IRS with no context, and it didn't even clearly explain why it applied to my case. Either my bank info was wrong, or I didn't provide the info. Keep in mind the IRS has my bank info on file because of estimated tax payments. No, the "fix" was to post bank info to my online IRS account. But I can't do that because it's already on record.
I made several attempts to contact the IRS by phone and got stuck in long queues, where an AI queue process killed calls with messages like, "Try calling back another day." I contacted my local congressional office in the hope they could get the IRS to contact me directly.
At some point, I received a separate IRS notice that seemed to imply I was entitled to an additional refund due to BBB tax changes, which required me to file an additional schedule. But apparently they recomputed my return by applying the tax break directly, and they didn't want to cut a paper check, hence the kerfuffle over the bank info. (Keep in mind the IRS already had that info on file—I have no idea why they didn't know or check.) At some point, the aide mentioned cutting a paper check. Later, the aide came back and said the IRS ombudsman implied the IRS had erred by reworking my return. I got a notice from the original IRS folks who came back and told me I hadn't disputed their additional refund conclusion, which meant it would finalize. I wasn't sure how that would happen. So now I'm in the middle of an internal dispute with the IRS. I contacted the aide, who apparently gets updates once a month. I finally got a paper check. I contacted the aide. No response. I tried again, telling him I intend to cash the check unless I hear something. This time, the aide freaked out and told me I had to void the check and return it to an address in MA. I scanned the voided check and sent it back via certified mail. Now I got a notice that I owe the IRS the refund amount plus interest for a check I never cashed. I made multiple inquiries to the aide and still can't figure out why my IRS account still shows I owe them for a check I never cashed, a month after USPS confirmed delivery. I got an interim notice that it'll take 2 months to resolve my situation. (I didn't even get an acknowledgment that the check was returned!) A couple of weeks ago, I got a notice saying the check hadn't posted yet and that I should send them a copy of the voided check. Over the past week, I finally got a notice implying they've resolved the voided check, and I checked my online account and see the charge has finally disappeared.
I'll double-check my 2025 return again in a few months to see if I'm indeed entitled to the canceled refund and need to submit an amended return with an additional schedule. I normally don't blast the IRS or others. As a past government contractor, it's not my first exposure to government incompetence
