News

2010

September

21

• Health insurers to stop offering child-only policies. Some of the country's most prominent health insurance companies have decided to stop offering new child-only plans, rather than comply with rules in the new health-care law that will require such plans to start accepting

• Medicare 'doughnut hole' relief may be offset by higher drug prices. f you've ever seen a sale advertising 50 percent off, you might have wondered if the retail price was ratcheted up to make the discount possible. Patient advocates are watching to see if a similar tactic

16

• Your car is at 100,000 miles. Now what?. It was once a huge red flag: When a car's odometer would hit 100,000 miles, "it was almost a magic threshold that meant the car was probably worn out," says Kay Wynter, who runs an auto

• Warren to head launch of financial protection bureau. President Obama, sidestepping a possibly heated confirmation battle, will appoint Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren as a special advisor to the Treasury Department to launch the government's powerful new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to

14

• Consumers say they don't want letter grade fuel stickers. Consumers apparently want the EPA's proposed letter grading fuel economy sticker to take a seat in the dunce chair. The Environmental Protection Agency has given the public two options for a new fuel economy sticker:

07

• Healthcare reforms don't go far enough. Ruta Vaisnys just got the word from Blue Shield of California: Her monthly health insurance premium will rise by more than 28% to $243 beginning next month. The Silver Lake resident is among the 150,000 Blue Shield customers

02

• California's safety-net health insurance premiums rise. As state leaders blast giant health insurers for raising rates, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has quietly allowed hefty increases for thousands of sick or jobless Californians who must rely on expensive safety-net coverage -- if

August

31

• Be skeptical of health-care credit cards. These days, you may leave your dentist's office with more than a toothbrush and dental floss in your bag. Thousands of dentists are offering patients health-care credit cards to cover the work that needs to

26

• Quest for the perfect credit score. A major league pitcher dreams of throwing a perfect game. High schoolers eyeing the Ivy League study furiously in hopes of earning 2400 on the SAT. Meanwhile, Chris Peplinski is pursuing his own brand of flawlessness:

24

• The customer always comes last. The credit card industry is working hard to subvert the Credit Card Act of 2009, which banned many of the industry’s most predatory practices. The Federal Reserve Board, which oversees and coddles this industry, needs

20

• A health insurance lesson for students. Unless your soon-to-be-roommate mentioned on Facebook that she has a mysterious and potentially contagious rash, you probably haven't given much thought to what you'll do for health insurance when you start college this fall. But

• Fatalies on the job fell in 2009. The total number of fatal workplace injuries fell by 17 percent last year, to 4,340, down from 5,214 in 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday. The bureau said that the 2009 total was the smallest since its

• Health premiums shrink wages. Workers will pay more for their health care next year as U.S. companies prepare for provisions of the overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama, according to a survey released today. About 63 percent

18

• Consumer Action forms editorial content partnership with Insure.com. Consumer Action today announces that it has partnered with online insurance portal Insure.com to use select examples of its original educational content and feature articles on Consumer Action’s website. The educational content also

• COBRA ends; insurance bill increases. Jennifer Richards of Park Ridge, Ill., is angry that her family's monthly health insurance bill tripled in August to $1,250 after her husband lost his job and health benefits. But as bad as that is, what

16

• See the future of primary care. About 65 million Americans live in communities with a shortage of primary care doctors, physicians trained to meet the majority of patients' health care needs over the course of their lives. How much more difficult will

15

• New flood boundaries, higher premiums. One day your house is outside a hazardous flood plain - and the next day it's in, potentially costing you hundreds of dollars a year in higher insurance premiums. Or vice versa. And it's all

13

• Insurance regulators face tough balancing act. A few months into a new job as a contract engineer, Jim Arey was stunned by an $8,000 bill he received for two doctor-administered infusions of an expensive drug he needs regularly. That's when the Columbia,

• Elizabeth Warren: poised to become borrower's best friend. Somewhere along the line, Elizabeth Warren became a symbol. She's either the plain-spoken, supremely smart crusader for middle-class families that her supporters adore, or she's the power-hungry headline seeker her critics loathe, a fiery zealot

12

• Groups shed light on health care law. True or false: The new health care law will cut Medicare benefits for seniors. It will slash Medicare payments to doctors. It will ration health care. In three polls conducted last month, large percentages of