News

2012

May

19

• Backers of health insurance rate regulation edge closer to ballot. Supporters of a proposed ballot measure seeking tighter regulation of health insurance rates in California turned in 800,000 petition signatures, confident that they will qualify for the Nov. 6 election.

15

• New online tool to estimate Social Security benefits. On May 1, Social Security launched a feature on its website, www.socialsecurity.gov, that allows workers to view an online version of their Social Security earnings and benefits statements. The program also allows you to

10

• Health law repeal to cost seniors $20,000. Retirees may pay about $20,000 more for medical care if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the 2010 health care overhaul, Fidelity Investments said. A 65-year-old couple retiring this year will spend $240,000 out-of-pocket for care before their

05

• Discrepancies on medical bills can leave a credit stain. Even people with good insurance coverage know how hard it can be to figure out how much they owe after a visit to the doctor or, even worse, the emergency room, which can generate multiple

03

• Facebook privacy problems on the rise. Consumer Reports released its annual report on Internet privacy and security Thursday, placing Facebook front and center. Issues covered by the influential consumer watchdog group included updates on data leaks, hacks, scams, and the like,

01

• Consumer bureau may have final say on arbitration clauses. Does the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have the power to trump theU.S. Supreme Court? That's the intriguing question raised by a seemingly routine announcement last week that the watchdog agency is seeking public comments

• Massachusetts bill would overhaul how health-care providers are paid. In 2006, under Gov. Mitt Romney, Massachusetts became the first state to extend insurance coverage to all its residents. Now it’s looking to slow the growth of its health-care costs in equally groundbreaking ways. In

April

29

• Health insurers’ push to diversify raises ethical concerns. Like hospitals and doctors everywhere, Banner Health fights a daily battle to get paid by insurance companies and government agencies for the care it delivers. So the hospital system hired a company called Executive Health

24

• California's working poor lose a lot if health reform law dies. If the healthcare reform law is thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court — as many fear could happen based on the comments of conservative justices — more than 700,000 low-income Californians could lose a once-in-a-lifetime chance

• Medicare funding runs short by 2024. Highlighting the fiscal problems posed by growing health costs and an aging population, the trustees of the nation's main entitlement programs estimated Monday that Medicare will only be able to pay a portion of its

12

• TARP bailout money fails to reach neediest homeowners. A federal housing program funded with taxpayer money left over from the government's bailout of the banks and auto companies is failing to deliver on its promised relief to struggling homeowners. The Hardest Hit Fund,

10

• What the foreclosure settlement means for you. The $26 billion foreclosure settlement has finally been given the green light, making it possible for roughly two million of the nation's hardest hit borrowers to see a significant reduction in their mortgage payments. Under the

01

• Long-term care insurance policy costs rising. Long-term care insurance helps cover expenses that typical health insurance doesn't, such as nursing homes, in-home care and assisted living. Insurance companies have been making major adjustments because the claims on long-term health care policies

March

29

• Long-term care insurance policy costs rising. Just as aging Baby Boomers are realizing they may need long-term care insurance, the marketplace is shrinking, the cost of premiums is soaring, and providers are altering the policies they offer. Long-term care insurance helps

27

• Supreme Court considers main question in health-care law. The Supreme Court on Tuesday considers the main constitutional question in its review of the nation’s health-care overhaul, whether Congress has the power to require almost all Americans to secure health insurance or pay

24

• Health reform at 2: Why American health care will never be the same. The Affordable Care Act is mostly known for its mandate to expand health insurance to 30 million more Americans within a decade. That’s the side of the legislation Democrats touted last week, when the law

22

• Four perspectives on 'Obamacare'. One is a young, healthy paramedic who can't afford health care coverage for himself. Another is a breast cancer survivor with leukemia bouncing from private insurance to Medicaid to Medicare. A third is an ailing

13

• Health reform's cost under scrutiny. Capitol Hill's official budget cruncher will offer new estimates on Tuesday of one of the most controversial parts of health care reform: the government's cost of covering tens of millions of uninsured Americans. The Congressional

08

• Consumer group sues drugmakers over coupons. Eight major drugmakers are being sued by a consumer coalition claiming the companies' popular coupon programs, which cover much of the patient co-payment for hundreds of brand-name prescription medicines, are illegal. Community Catalyst alleges the

07

• Refinancing fees reduced for FHA borrowers. In what it described as part of an initiative to lift the housing market, the Obama administration said Tuesday that it would make refinancing less expensive for certain borrowers with mortgages backed by the Federal