News

2009

April

26

• When medical bills outpace your means. Medical bills have a way of piling up — especially when you’re sick or underinsured. Just ask Kirk Kupka, 48, and his wife, Susie, 53. Mr. Kupka has multiple sclerosis. The Kupkas, who live in Lindstrom, Minn.,

25

• Mortgage safety net offers job-loss protection. Is there a rainy day in your personal job forecast? That wouldn't be surprising - with unemployment rates in double digits in several states, 8.2 percent nationwide and widely expected to hit 10 percent or higher by

23

• Understanding your credit score. It’s the three-digit number that can have a huge impact on your life — now and in the future. I hear from a lot of people about their credit scores. In most cases, they want

21

• Choosing alternatives to layoffs. The women and men, gently prodded by a facilitator, opened up about their daily inspirational practices: "Every morning and every night I create a feeling of gratitude for everything in my life," one woman said.

20

• Insurance premiums rise. Home, car and life insurance prices are climbing as insurers grapple with lower investment returns and profits. The cost of a typical auto insurance policy will rise 4% to $875 this year, on top of a 3% increase

19

• When financial ruin is a step away. El Segundo resident Kathy Caliup can't say for sure when it all started slipping from her grasp - the credit card bills, the car payments, the rent. All she knows is that she looked around

18

• Caveats about your electronic health records. The Obama administration’s plan to spend $19 billion on electronic medical records has generated so much buzz you might think it was the biggest thing in health care since penicillin. But while policy makers, hospitals,

16

• Who got bailout money?. The companies below have received money from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as of April 13, 2009. The Treasury Department's list is mostly organized by date, beginning with Oct. 28, 2008. If a company appears more than

15

• Car title database hits snag in California. Consumers have waited more than 16 years for a comprehensive, nationwide system that would help them avoid being tricked into buying vehicles that were stolen or so badly damaged they were written off by insurance companies.

14

• Health Care Action Issue [Spring 2009]. The Health Care Action Issue features articles on heath care reform, how to get health coverage, health savings accounts, new help for laid-off workers with COBRA premiums, tips to control health care costs and a bold health coverage experiment in San Francisco.

• Overhauling the student loan industry. With the Obama administration proposing to overhaul the programs a majority of American students use to finance their college education, the student loan industry is fighting back. The administration is calling for sweeping changes to

13

• Electronic health records raise doubt. When Dave deBronkart, a tech-savvy kidney cancer survivor, tried to transfer his medical records from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to Google Health, a new free service that lets patients keep all their health records

09

• Faster unemployment service on the way. For millions of jobless people dependent on unemployment benefits, the wait for help may be getting shorter. After computer system crashes and overwhelmed phone lines at state unemployment offices inundated with record claims, federal funds

07

• GM and Segway unveil new two-wheeled vehicle. A solution to the world's urban transportation problems could lie in two wheels not four, according to executives for General Motors Corp. and Segway Inc. The companies announced Tuesday that they are working together to

• New financial oversight may add new risks. The Obama administration's plan for a sweeping expansion of financial regulations could have unintended consequences that increase the very hazards that these changes are meant to prevent. Financial experts say the perception that the government

02

• Government may reward car buyers. The road to recovery for U.S. automakers could be jammed with hundreds of thousands of gas-guzzling used cars, which President Obama hopes will be traded in for more fuel-efficient vehicles -- with the lure

March

31

• Stipends help make communities MoneyWi$e (Consumer Action and Capital One provide small grants to local groups for consumer education). San Francisco — (March 31, 2009) – National consumer advocacy group Consumer Action and Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) announced today that their joint MoneyWi$e financial literacy program will award 18 stipends totaling $53,000 to community groups

• Access to COBRA subsidy may expand in California. Workers laid off by California's smallest businesses have a shot at subsidized healthcare under a bill moving quickly through the Legislature. As part of February's stimulus package, some laid-off employees can get the government to

• Marketers offer relief to consumers hit by job loss. The recession has given the marketing world a twist: ads that boast about helping the newly unemployed. Some of the nation's savviest marketers also have figured out that the best way to get folks who

• Cambios a los planes privados del Medicare. El gobierno de Obama impuso nuevos controles el lunes a los planes privados de seguros que son populares entre las personas mayores en el Medicare, pero que han sido criticados por abusos y altos costos