Health-care costs are the trapdoor lurking beneath every retirement plan. Drug prices are soaring. Retiree health plans are being cut back or dropped. Medicare premiums have doubled in seven years, taking an increasing bite out of Social Security checks. Medicare Part D, which subsidizes the cost of prescription drugs, has helped with but not solved the problem of high drug costs.

SAN FRANCISCO—A federal judge has upheld a jury award of $28.1 million to retired football players who sued the NFL Players’ Association for allegedly failing to properly market their images. The judge said today there was sufficient evidence presented at trial in November that the union actively sought to cut out the retired players from lucrative contracts for the benefit of current players.

Richmond city government retirees will have to wait a little longer to find out whether they’ll get a raise in their pensions, but it could be worth their while. The City Council postponed last night’s scheduled vote on a proposed 1 percent cost-of-living increase for retirees and discussed taking up the matter in January, after Mayor-elect Dwight Clinton Jones takes office. Jones supported a raise for retirees during the fall campaign and reiterated that position in general terms yesterday.

The Richmond City Council could decide Monday between giving a 1 percent raise to city retirees and squirreling away funds to weather the stormy economy.