Headline News Archive

2009

January

06

• Presentan caso de fraude con seguros. Los principales gestores de una empresa que negociaba con pólizas de seguros de vida, fueron acusados por la fiscalía federal de un fraude que causó…

04

• Stick in Paradise, needing medical help. IT all started because we didn’t want to eat a dinner for a second night at the Oberoi resort at Lombok, Indonesia. Admittedly, it was…

• Time to drop 'consumer' label?. One of my New Year's resolutions is to stop referring to myself as a consumer. The idea for the resolution actually came from reader Tom…

2008

December

31

• Consumer Action wished you a Happy New Year!. Happy New Year! The Consumer Action staff has the day off today. News posting will resume tomorrow and will include notable stories published on Jan.…

30

• Obama team engages public on health care. Dolly Sweet, 77, has battled cancer more than once. She's a fighter. But when her doctor recently prescribed a medication that cost $35,000 a year,…

29

• Cut health costs, not your care. Amber Eyerly, 32, says she's never been much good at saving money. But with only minimal raises, at best, expected for 2009 at the Los…

28

• Advocates hope watchdog agencies get more bite. You'll be safer in 2009. At least that's the expectation of consumer watchdogs who believe the changing of the guard at the White House in…

26

• States cut medicaid coverage further. States from Rhode Island to California are being forced to curtail Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, as they struggle to cope…

25

• Consumer Action wishes you Happy Holidays!. The Consumer Action staff has the day off. News posting will resume Dec. 26.

24

• Dangerous drug interactions could affect millions. At least 2.2 million older adults in the U.S. take medicine in combinations that could trigger dangerous drug interactions, causing gastrointestinal bleeding, muscle breakdown, disruption…

22

• Hospital debt collections: No charity. Every Wednesday at noon, debt collection lawyers take their seats behind a thick wooden table in a downtown Baltimore courtroom for a ritual they call…

18

• Homeowners face foreclosure limbo. She may live in an epicenter of the U.S. housing crisis, but Vickie Lewis is far from any stereotype conjured up in coverage of the…

15

• Cremation on rise in tough economic times. When Dorothy Anderson died in late September at age 87, her grandson would have preferred burying her at Woodlawn Cemetery. But money was tight for…

• Families move to 529s to lock in tuition rates. As the stock market swoons and tuition costs soar, more families are deciding to pay for college in advance through their 529 plans. For years,…

14

• Consumer movement at a crossroads. Since 1989, all new cars sold in the United States have had an air bag on the driver's side. It's estimated they save almost 3,000…

• Boost your variable annuities future benefit. A popular type of variable annuity - the one with guaranteed "living benefits" - may be the riskiest product ever sold by the insurance industry.…

• Lost money? Counting more than pennies. If you have been checking coat pockets or under sofa cushions for spare change, you know that every cent counts these days. Yet a big…

13

• How much house can you afford?. The past two years have demonstrated in dramatic fashion what can happen to people who overreach to buy the home they want. The lesson: Qualifying…

09

• Mortgage modifications show limited success. A new government report released yesterday underscored the limited success of industry efforts to reduce foreclosures by modifying mortgage loans, offering fuel for both sides…

07

• Burglaries may increase during downturn. They're holiday rituals of the Grinchy sort, annual warnings from local police telling us how to protect ourselves from burglary and theft during the dark,…

05

• HHS will be shepherding health-care reform. Under the best of circumstances, overseeing the Department of Health and Human Services is an enormous undertaking. With 65,000 employees and a budget of $707.7…

04

• Treasury weighs action on mortgage rates. The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate the moribund housing…

03

• UnitedHealth to insure the right to insurance. For these economically uncertain times, the UnitedHealth Group has a “first of its kind” product: the right to buy an individual health policy at some…

November

30

• US not getting health care we 'pay for'. Talk to the chief executives of America's preeminent health-care institutions, and you might be surprised by what you hear: When it comes to medical care,…

25

• The car of the future -- but at what cost?. Many members of Congress believe they know what the car company of the future should look like. "A business model based on gas -- a…