0 Got a health-care spending account? Today may be your last chance to spend those dollars.

Still got some money stashed away in a health-care flexible spending account? If so, you might want to put a trip to the pharmacy on your day's to-do list, or at least check your plan's paperwork to see if you can take advantage of the IRS's optional grace period, to March 15, to spend those funds. Otherwise, after today you'll lose those savings for good. If you don't need a new pair of glasses and don't know how else to spend that money, here are some qualifying over-the-counter items listed on the Aetna Website that can be purchased without a prescription: BandagesEye-care products (contact lens solution, lubricant drops, patches)Family-planning...

0 Top sparkling wines for ringing in the New Year

Looking to purchase a bottle of bubbly for the night? You might not think of Consumer Reports when it comes to buying wine, but our industry experts have reviewed many of your favorite varietals, including Cabernet, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Zinfandel, and many more. Our recent tests of sparkling wine include a recommended GH Mumm Cordon Rouge NV, and a very reasonably priced Gruet Blanc de Noirs NV. The first is a classic Champagne style bubbly that is intense and complex with ripe apple and yeasty/toasty notes, while the second has an attractive array of fruit that mixes nicely with slight yeasty flavors to make for a tasty...

0 Hospitals still order too many CT scans

Radiation exposure from a CT scan is about 350 times higher than from an ordinary chest X-ray. Yet some hospitals, including several large, well-known ones, continue to order too many of them, exposing patients to needless risk and expense, according our updated hospital Ratings. We focused on "double scans," or two scans ordered for the same patient, one with a contrast agent (which can make the image clearer), and another without. Such double scans are rarely necessary, and expose patients to 700 times as much radiation as from a standard chest X-ray. Such scans might increase the risk of cancer. Contrast agents add other risks, including...

0 Use those gift cards now

If you received gift cards this holiday season, you should get out and use them up now, before they get buried in a drawer, lose value, or expire. Federal rules for merchant and bank issued gift cards mean they can't expire within five years after they're issued, or in the case of reloadable gift cards, within five years after money was last added. But the rules don't apply to reloadable cards that aren't labeled or marketed as gift cards, including those awarded through loyalty, rebate, or promotional programs. Nor do the federal regulations apply to discount vouchers from such sites as Groupon or Living Social. Consumers Union,...

0 Ditch the fat-free salad dressing, and other tips for cooking healthier in 2013

New Year's Day is notable for resolutions. If a healthier diet is on your list, just choosing the right foods isn't enough; how you prepare your meals can be just as important as what you put in your shopping cart, according to Bonnie Taub-Dix, a nutrition expert and author of "Read It Before You Eat It" (Plume, 2010). For example, cooking certain foods makes their nutrients more available, like the lycopene in tomatoes and the carotene in carrots. In other cases, common cooking practices can diminish the nutritional quality of your food or add unnecessary fat and sodium. That's true even for some habits you might think are good ones....

0 5 tips for easy returns of unwanted holiday gifts

The holidays were wonderful, but now that the wrapping paper has been discarded and the good dishes put away, it's time to take stockshould you keep, return, or re-gift some of the presents you got? If you choose to return any unwanted gifts, you can prep before making a trip to the store, and follow our tips to steer clear of typical gift-return hassles. Be sure before you open that box: Merchants can impose a restocking fee (often 15 percent of the product's cost), and many do for electronics items. Products such as computer software, CDs, and DVDs aren't generally returnable once they're opened. It might also be hard to return products...

0 Gift cards are great last-minute gifts, but purchase with care

Buying a gift card is easy, and while legislation has eliminated a number of the gotchas associated with these presents, some drawbacks remain. So do your homework before you spend any money on gift cards. Consumers will spend $28.8 billion on gift cards during the holiday season, according to an estimate by the National Retail Federation. But shoppers don't get all they paid forcertain store policies can erode the value. If you plan on giving a reloadable gift card or one that's not marketed as a gift card specifically, pay close attention to the card's terms and conditions to make sure the person you're giving it to doesn't get hit...

0 17 million expect to shop on Christmas Eve

With the days until Christmas dwindling, two-thirds of celebrants132 million Americansstill hadn't finished shopping, and 14 percent said they had yet to start, according to Consumer Reports' latest Holiday Poll, fielded Dec. 10-17. Still others push the limits of procrastination: Nine percent of shoppersan estimated 17 million peoplesaid they plan to shop in stores on Christmas Eve. Last-minute shoppers, in no position to be picky, are most likely to grab a gift card (the go-to present for 62 percent), give cash (27 percent), or a bottle of wine or liquor (15 percent). Other items likely to be bought in a pinch: lottery tickets and...

0 Inexpensive, last-minute gifts for food lovers

Got someone on your list who loves good food? Consider one of these products, all of which did well in our recent tests. Even better, they're inexpensive, ranging from $6 to $60. Trader Joe's California Estate olive oil. Just $6 for a 16.9-ounce bottle. It was excellent in our tests: strong, complex, and very fresh-tasting. It pairs especially well with bread and salad, our testers say. Columbia Crest Grand Estates cabernet sauvignon and Bogle chardonnay. Both scored Very Good in our tests by expert tasters and were just $10 per bottle. We assessed 2008 and 2009 vintages, respectively, though more recent vintages shouldn't differ very much....

0 Got too much milk?

Can kids drink too much milk? Maybe, according to a new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It found that while getting enough is key for strong bones, excessive amounts might reduce the amount of iron in the blood, which is important for brain and psychomotor development. Toronto researchers asked the parents of 1,311 healthy children between the ages of two and five how much milk the kids drank daily. Those who drank more milk had higher levels of vitamin D but lower levels of iron. Two 8-ounce glasses a day seems to be the "just right" amount. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends approximately two cups of nonfat...

0 Make sure your holiday gifts arrive on time this year

Holiday shipping deadlines are fast approaching if you want your gifts to reach their destinations on time. If you're sending gifts and want them to arrive by Christmas, note the various dates below for shipping within the United States. U.S. Postal Service: (Check usps.com for shipping deadlines to other countries and military addresses.) Parcel Post, Dec. 14 First-Class Mail, Dec. 20 Priority Mail, Dec. 21 Most Express Mail, Dec. 22 FedEx: FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery, Dec. 17 (Can vary depending on Zip Code) FedEx 2 Day, Dec. 20 FedEx Overnight, Dec. 22 UPS: UPS Ground, Dec. 21 UPS 2nd Day Air, Dec. 21 UPS Next Day Air,...

0 Buy an iPad for grandma and grandpa this year?

Got a relative with an age-related eye problem? If so, an iPad or other tablet with a backlit display might make a great gift. The contrast between background and text on those devices makes reading easier for people with macular degeneration and certain other vision problems, according to a new study. Researchers found that people with the worst vision liked reading on the iPad 2, which was the tablet used in the test, more than reading a regular book or using a standard e-book reader, like the Amazon Kindle, which doesn't have the same backlit display. Even people with normal vision read faster on the iPad 2, the study found. Increasing...

0 5 tips: Be a return-friendly shopper this holiday season

You may think you've bought the perfect gift for everyone on your list, but at least some of your recipients are likely to disagree. To help make the return process easier on your gift recipients, consider the following: Check store return policies: It helps to know whether your gift recipient can return something purchased at a store's website to the store's nearest location, instead of having to box it up and ship it off. Big-box stores usually specify on their websites whether you can return something purchased online in a local store. Look for restocking fees: Many retailers impose restocking fees, usually 15 percent of the product's...

0 Diabetic eye problems on the rise

One likely effect of the growing number of young people with type 2 diabetes is that more and more people in their 20s and 30s are developing serious eye problems not correctable with glasses. "We've all been aware that obesity and type 2 diabetes go hand in hand, but now there is added evidence of an increase in eye diseases," says Marvin M. Lipman, M.D., Consumer Reports chief medical adviser. "Unless we can stem the tide of obesity and defer the onset of diabetes, the younger population may be facing other diabetes complications as well." Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and elsewhere analyzed...

0 Crowds, packing on the pounds, aggressive parking lot drivers top list of holiday dreads

'Tis the season to be jolly, but for many Americans this time of year isn't all eggnog and mistletoe. In fact, for some, the holidays can be downright Grinch-worthy. In our latest Holiday Poll, a nationally representative survey of more than 1,100 adults, holiday shoppers shared what they dread most about the Yuletide season. Topping the list by a wide margin were crowds and long lines, cited by 58 percent of respondents, followed by weight gain (41 percent), and aggressive drivers thoughtlessly tooling around parking lots (40 percent). Other angst inducers included getting into debt, gift shopping, seasonal music, lousy presents, and...

0 When you're out of the hospital, are you out of the woods?

If you think leaving the hospital means you're home for good, think again. About twenty percent of heart attack and pneumonia patients, and a quarter of heart failure patients, find themselves back in the hospital within 30 days, according to our updated hospital Ratings. And our new analysis shows that those rates aren't getting better. The most recent data cover patients discharged between July 2008 and June 2011, which we compared against data from two years earlier, between July 2006 and June 2009. The information is from the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and shows an estimate of the likelihood that a heart...

0 Ultrasonic bug zappers don't help ward off bedbugs

It sure is tempting: Just plug in a device and let sound waves keep bedbugs and other creepy-crawlies away, without pesticides or expensive exterminator bills. Unfortunately, those ultrasonic bug repellent devices marketed on late-night TV and sold online don't work, according to a new study. Researchers at Northern Arizona University bought four pest repellent devices from Amazon.com. They then let a bunch of bedbugs loose and let them choose between one area filled with sound from the devices and the other silent. Turns out there was no real difference in the number of bedbugs that chose the noisy or quiet areas. The researchers weren't...

0 Consumer Reports Index: Sentiment among wealthier Americans drops sharply

A weak employment picture hit lower-income households the hardest this month, and the budget impasse in Washington created a drag on consumer outlook among the more affluent, according to the Consumer Reports Index, an overall measure of Americans' personal financial health. "Poor employment levels for the lower-income households and fears of fiscal uncertainty for more affluent households were the perfect storm to sink the significant gains seen last month," says Ed Farrell, director of consumer insight at the Consumer Reports National Research Center. More Americans are losing rather than starting jobs. The employment measure dropped...

0 Despite Black Friday shopping spree, most consumers concerned about holiday spending

Although two-thirds of adults shopped over Black Friday weekend, the latest Consumer Reports Holiday Poll reveals that 81 percent of shoppers remain at least somewhat concerned about racking up big bills. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed in our nationally representative poll plan to splurge less on gifts than they did last year (by comparison, only 5 percent said they intend to splurge more than they did in 2011), while 31 will be eying more practical presents this season (vs. 9 percent who say they'll go the opposite way). Charities are taking a hit, too. Nineteen percent say they'll donate less to the needy compared to 13 percent...